Special Project
by Ty2
Summary: What if the X-series weren't the only soldiers created at Manticore? And what if one of those new soldiers was Zack's little sister? Set after AJBAC. Formally posted in separate sections starting with 'Little Sister'. (Completed 7/19)
1. Little Sister

I almost wished that someone would try to jump me as I walked down the alley, away from the streetlights, with my big brother at my side. It was dark now. Zack only visited me after dark.

I had been inactive too long. I felt like I was about to burst. So instead of the silence that usually permeated much of Zack's visits, I spoke.

"Zack, take me with you."

"No." Zack said in that 'And that's the last I want to hear from you on the subject, soldier!' voice.

Tactfully, I changed the subject. Tactical retreat to attack on a new front.

"What are the others like?" an old question, repeated often because I liked to hear Zack talk about his brothers and sisters, the X-5's.

"You ask too many questions." Zack said, "Didn't they break you of that at Manticore?"

He didn't mean it. Not really. He never did.

"Will I ever get to meet them? Any of them?" I pressed.

Zack sighed and turned to face me with his most stern, disappointed, and authoritative look. I didn't even blink, but looked up at him with my own most stubborn and determined expression. For all that he was older than I was, I was still his sister. Even more so than the X-5's. You see, they used Zack's DNA to create me.

Maybe it was for this reason Zack was extremely protective of me. Maybe that just added to his natural protective, big brother nature. Either way, the result was the same.

No one knew about me. Not any of the X-5's, not even the majority of Manticore staff. Not even the Lydecker that kept plaguing my brother. I had been a special project. Madame X, as everyone called her, had observed Zack's natural leadership abilities and acted to duplicate that valuable asset. Why she made me female Zack claimed he would never understand. I suspect that it was because she was a woman and some part of her had wanted a woman leading.

"Big brother, you know that I'm as stubborn as you are. Zack, I'm sick of this place! I want to go with you, to help you. Hell, you could use it. Every time I see you, you have a new injury that you're trying to hide from me." I said.

"It's too dangerous." Zack said, his voice lowering and taking on more force.

"You can't make me stay." I said, my own voice lowering to nearly match his.

"I can."

I was mad. I would make him see my point and at the same time prove that I was capable of handling the danger. I had been trained for it as much as he had, damn it!

I whipped around and kicked high: a roundhouse kick to his head. Zack caught my foot with both hands an inch from his face. I glared my fury at him, but he refused to relinquish his hold.

"Don't make me, little sister." he said quietly.

As close to begging as Zack ever got. But this was one time that I wouldn't back down. I jumped and kicked at him with my other leg. He released my foot to block the kick. I had the offensive. I launched into another roundhouse, this time aimed at chest height. He blocked. Every attack I launched he blocked. Finally, he made a counterattack. I had been waiting for it and dodged his jab at my stomach. Zack attacked again, taking the offensive. This time it was a sweep kick. I jumped over it and bent back out of the path of the first punch of a triple punch. I was forced to retreat to avoid the following attacks. Zack switched to a flat-handed punch. I side-stepped it, but walked right into his left-handed jab. I ducked in time, but then had no time to jump a reverse sweep kick. I fell. Zack dropped with me, an elbow poised to deliver a blow that would knock the air from my lungs.

"You stay." he said in my face.

"You know that I can't beat you." I growled at him.

Zack could anticipate all my moves. He was bigger and stronger. My only advantage was being slightly more flexible because of my gender and I never had enough time to exploit that. Whenever our disagreements became physical, Zack won.

"That's why you shouldn't fight me. It's for your own good. Do you want to get dragged back to Manticore?"

"No." I said, feeling slightly defeated...for now.

Zack had rescued me from Manticore when he had discovered me there on one of his spying missions. He liked to know ahead of time if one of his brothers or sisters was in trouble.

I had been left in a room by myself, instructed to watch the screen flashing with the traits of a perfect soldier while I practiced my punches, kicks, and blocks until I received different orders. It had been a punishment for breaking protocol. I had questioned my instructor and creator, Madame X.

The moment when I first saw Zack was an odd one. When I heard the door open, I had assumed the attention position, awaiting orders. When I saw Zack, I recognized myself in him and was frozen for a moment. Then I had assumed a combat position, ready to attack if necessary. I had no idea who he was or what was going on, but those two facts usually meant a test.

"Who are you?" he had asked finally.

"SP559, sir!" I had replied.

It was Zack's barcode except for the 'SP' instead or 'X'. 'SP' for special project.

Knowing that I would resist him, Zack had attacked and rendered me unconscious after only a short fight. When I woke up, I was in a vehicle headed to where I was currently located: Phoenix, Arizona.

"Permission to make inquiry, sir." I had asked, feeling weak.

"You don't have to ask permission anymore, little sister." Zack had said.

And so I was free. New life and so on. Zack visited me occasionally and told me bits and pieces of his missions. He'd told me a little about the others: Max, Tinga, Brin, Syl, Krit, and so on. He talked about Max the most.

I knew Zack could use my help.

Suddenly, I knew what I had to do.

"Is this my freedom, then? You get more and more like Manticore, Zack." I said.

It was a cheap shot and we both knew it. But I was desperate.

Zack shoved himself back to his feet. That comment had cut through his bio-genetically engineered military shell. I had hurt his feelings.

"Fine. Do whatever you want. Get yourself killed." he said, turning his back to me, "I was just trying to keep you safe, baby sister."

"I know. You try to keep all of us safe. But Zack, I'm not a baby and you know that you could use all the help you can get." I said softly, but firmly.

Zack turned to face me again. After a long moment of silence, he spoke again.

"Practice your moves. Remember how I got you down and make sure that doesn't happen again. You'll need all the skill you've got. When I get back...you can come with me." Zack promised.

I knew that was as far as Zack would surrender. And I was glad. It felt like a victory to me. Of course, I didn't smile. Zack and I, we rarely smile. And besides, I knew that would only hurt his already bruised pride.

"Don't worry, Zack. I will. You'll see." I agreed.

The night was almost gone so I hugged him and he vanished into the dark again. Little did I know hat he would never come back to me.

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This short little fic was inspired by my best friend's comment that I should have played an X-5 instead of the blonde who played Syl in the season finale because I look like Zack (hair color, pouty expression, etc.). I took this as a great compliment. If anyone was at all interested by this and would like to read some more about my little character and what happens next, let me know. I only write when I know that someone wants to read so just let me know. Thanks.

Gabrielle


	2. Two Weeks Notice

****

Two Weeks Notice

I was going insane.

Where was Zack? Why hadn't he contacted me? Two weeks never went by without at least an e-mail from my big brother letting me know he was alive if not okay. Was this some kind of test? Or was he in serious trouble?

"Damn you, Zack." I repeated for the tenth time that day.

It wasn't that I was angry with Zack. It was more that I was angry about worrying.

"What'd you say?" my roommate asked.

I glanced at her briefly. My roommate, Trish, was a seventeen-year-old alcoholic. She never really noticed when I disappeared or even when I was there. Which suited me perfectly.

"Nothing, Trish. I need some air. You want something to eat?" I asked.

"Sure." she said as she popped open a can of beer.

She was starting early tonight. She'd be drunk by the time I got back. I sighed. I'd probably spend tomorrow cleaning up beer cans and vomit.

I left the building without another to Trish. Our "home" was one of the old southwestern style houses. It was very small and had fallen into a state of disrepair so bad that I had given up all hope of it ever looking like a respectable building.

Still the neighborhood was quiet. Criminal dealings were all done under-the-table so no one really knew of it. Of course, we weren't so naive as to think it wasn't there. Especially in this part of the sector where law enforcement never seemed to reach.

All and all, it was pretty clean. Nothing to do, no one to get attached to, nothing to worry about. Except the welfare of your genetically-enhanced big brother. But I guess that was just my problem.

I walked down the alley and out onto the street. The sun was setting. The streetlights were already coming on. I paused for a moment by one of said streetlights in the vain hope that Zack would just show up. I would blink and he would be there, apologizing for not having arrived sooner. I was really worried.

After the sun had completely disappeared below the horizon and I had berated myself viciously in disgust for being such a weakling, I continued up the street, hands planted deep in my jacket pockets. I ignored the lone bicyclist, the barking dog, and the noises of a couple having a loud dispute.

I purchased two doubtful looking meals from a fast food place and ate mine without relish. If only he had told me the location of one, just one, of the X-5's. Then I could find them. They would know how to contact Zack.

I thought back to the first time Zack had left me here.

"You will remain here, understood?" he had said.

I had still been hesitant to respond to anything less than an order despite Zack's attempts to the contrary.

"Yes..." I said, remembering to stop before I said 'sir!'.

"I will contact you soon to make sure that you are alright. It should never be more than two weeks between contacts. If it's been two weeks...you are to presume that I've either been captured or killed. You'll be on your own, little sister."

"Yes...Zack." I had said.

It might have been my imagination, but I thought I caught him smile before he left. That had been the first time I had ever called him by his name,

"No," I told myself out loud, drawing myself back to the present, "he's not dead."

I ruled out capture automatically. I knew Zack would kill himself before he let Manticore take him back.

I bit into my dead cow meat covered with bread (commonly known as a burger although I found the name ridiculous) again angrily. How could I let myself think that? I had more self-control than that. It wouldn't happen again.

I was about to take another equally aggressive bite when something suddenly occurred to me. I threw my...burger...to the ground and spun on the closest human being. I slammed the guy into a wall and held him there.

"You. Where's the Space Needle?" I demanded.

He blubbered and finally spit out an answer.

"Seattle. Washington."

I released him and was gone before he recovered his wits. I was soon back to where I had started from.

"Here's your food, Trish. I'm leaving for awhile. Might not be back." I said as I hastily shoved everything I owned into a backpack.

Trish just grunted. Either she didn't understand me or she didn't care. Probably both. Not that it mattered much to me.

So I left, taking enough of Trish's alcohol money to get me on a bus. I was finally going to get to meet the sister Zack talked about so much. I was going to meet Max. Why hadn't I thought of this sooner?

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Here is the next section for you. I have at least two more in mind if you would like them. Thanks again.

Gabrielle


	3. Tracking

****

Tracking

I spent a very long time on buses. My initial money had gotten me a ticket to Los Angeles. I acquired enough money there ( I won't say how) to buy another ticket that got me nearer to Oregon. It took only one more stop to acquire enough money to get me on a bus headed to Seattle.

I stared out the window of this final bus, not really seeing anything but my own memories.

"You need a name." Zack had said suddenly during his first visit since he initially got me out of Manticore.

Zack had been in one of his better moods. 

"Why?" I had asked.

In the time between Zack leaving and his return, I had become much more comfortable with speaking even when I wasn't being spoken to.

"Because you're more than just a barcode, little sister. All of us are." Zack said.

He paused and thought.

"Ty. What do you think?" he said finally.

I turned the name over in my mind and decided I liked it. However, Zack took my silence for uncertainty.

"If you don't like it..." he began.

"I like it." I interrupted.

"You don't have to lie..."

"Zack, I like my name." I said firmly.

Zack smiled and I decided suddenly to do something I had observed in other people. I hugged Zack for the first time.

"What are you doing?" he asked, surprised.

"It's called a hug..."

"I know that. But why?"

"Because that's...that's what family do. And we're family, right Zack?" I said hesitantly.

"Yes, Ty."

That time and the last time Zack had left were the only times I had hugged him.

"Damn him." I muttered and tore my eyes briefly from the window as if it were the cause of my vivid memories.

I mentally thanked the bus driver when I felt the bus stop a moment later. There was no more time for flashbacks.

The sector police waved me through with the other passengers and I made my way into the large, dark city of Seattle. Now came the hard part.

"Where are you, Maxy?" I asked out loud.

I reflected again on all the choppy reports Zack had given me. I recalled once when he mentioned the first time he had made contact with Max. He had taken a job under an alias at a bicycle delivery establishment where she worked. So I would have to check all the bicycle delivery places.

I spent the rest of that day asking people about bicycle delivery services and then checking them to see if a girl named Max worked there. I had been to four such places so far and decided that if the next one turned up nothing, I would suspend my search until the following day. The last place I had to scope out was a place called Jampony.

It was getting towards the time of day when most businesses shut down for the night and there were not many people left in the building labeled Jampony. I scanned the people there and immediately singled out the man who must be in charge. He wore a headset and was arranging packages that had not yet been delivered.

"Excuse me." I said as I walked up to him, "Could you tell me if a girl named Max works here? It's very important."

A pained expression came onto his face and I was also aware of the attention of all the other people in the building being focused directly on me.

"I'm sorry." he said, "Max has passed away."

I froze. This couldn't be. Not Max. Zack would never let her die. Never.

"Are you sure?" I said before I could stop myself.

Before he could comment, a woman broke in between us. She pushed me angrily towards the exit.

"Who do you think you are comin' in here and talkin' 'bout my boo? You'd better get outta here before..."

"I'm her little sister." I interjected.

The woman stopped suddenly and looked at me with a completely different emotion. Her eyes shown with pity now as well as tears.

"Oh. I'm sorry. Look...I...you...sorry. I suppose that you should go hook up with your brother and sista. I can give you the addy of the guy who can take you to 'em."

So I was given an address and ushered out like an unwanted memory. This couldn't be happening. Max couldn't be dead. How did that woman know who I was and about the other X-5's, Max's brothers and sisters? Why were so many of them here? Judging from what the woman had told me, there were two X-5's here. That would make four in one spot. I counted four because I knew my brother would be here if Max had been in some kind of trouble. Four X-5's in one place never happened. Not since their escape.

I needed answers. Maybe the person at this address could give them to me. And if not him, then surely my brother and sister could, whichever of the X-5's they were. Maybe one of them was my big brother, Zack.

With that hope in mind I proceeded quickly towards my new target, one Logan Cale.

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Here's the third section. I hope you enjoyed it. I have already begun the next section so look forward to the fourth part, Missing In Action. Thank you.

Gabrielle


	4. Missing In Action

****

Missing In Action

I knocked on the door of my target's apartment. From my surroundings I had deduced that this was a rich neighborhood. I don't know why this mattered to me.

A tall, muscular man with dark skin opened the door. I labeled him as my major adversary if anything went wrong and I had to fight.

"I'm here to see Logan Cale. It's about my sister." I explained.

This man, like the woman at Jampony, seemed to instantly understand. Did everyone here have some idea about us?

"Come on in. Just please...try not to mention her name. They were very close." he explained.

I nodded although I really didn't understand. Who was this Logan Cale and what did he have to do with Max and Zack and my other family? Yet more questions I wanted answers to.

The man escorted me through the apartment to the side of a man who sat in a wheelchair. He sat before numerous screens, the main one that of a computer. His eyes were red and ringed with the purple bags caused by lack of sleep. He had a very haggard appearance. As if he didn't care about it anymore.

He didn't even look in my direction as I approached.

"Who is it now, Bling?" was his only reaction.

"A sister." the man, apparently Bling, said.

The man in the wheelchair who I assumed was Logan Cale sighed. After a long pause he turned towards me.

"You probably have lots of questions. I beg you not to ask me. I'll take you to Krit and Syl." he said.

I nodded again. Part of me sunk inside as I learned that the brother the woman had mentioned was not Zack, but Krit. I refused to let that affect me and followed Logan Cale as he wheeled out the door. Bling trailed us all the way to Logan's vehicle and helped him get in. I climbed in the passenger side.

"You look a little young to be an X-5." Logan said later as we drove.

I wasn't that much younger.

"I'm not an X-5." I admitted, then felt the need to continue for no apparent reason, "I am a special project. Created from Zack's DNA. I'm looking for my brother."

I watched Logan for his reaction. The only visible change I detected was a moment of deepened sadness and pity. I wondered why, if he was so close to Max and the X-5's, why he was not suspicious of me. I might be an agent from Manticore for all he knew. Maybe he just didn't care. Maybe he figured Krit and Syl could handle any interrogations that needed to be done.

It wasn't long before he pulled into a building and parked. I immediately spotted two people there and knew that they must be Krit and Syl. I exited the vehicle and was prepared to confront my siblings, but found that they had completely bypassed me to assist Logan in getting out of the vehicle and into his wheelchair. Only after he was situated did they turn to me. I could see in their eyes that the recognized a similarity between Zack and me although I doubted that they had guessed exactly how similar.

"Who's this?" Krit asked Logan without taking his eyes off me.

"Claims to be a sister of yours. A special project created from Zack's DNA. She said she was looking for him" Logan explained.

At the mention of my brother, tears welled up in Syl's eyes and she turned away. Krit winced and looked very sad, but still suspicious of me. Here came the interrogation. I didn't care. I wanted, needed to know what they knew about Zack.

"What's your barcode?" Krit continued.

"SP-599." I said, turning slightly and moving my hair so he could see my barcode.

"That's Zack's barcode." Syl said softly.

"How did you get out of Manticore?" Krit continued, ignoring Syl.

"Zack rescued me, of course. How did any of us get out? Zack. And the reason why you didn't know about me is because Zack is too protective of me to endanger me in any way, even disclosing my existence to family. Now, can we skip the rest of the interrogation. Zack hasn't contacted me in over two weeks. That means something bad must have happened. Now, where is he?" I demanded.

My frustrated approach never should have worked, but it did. Something must be really wrong.

"I'm sorry...Zack's MIA. We were on a mission." Krit began to explain.

"We were going to take down Manticore once and for all." Syl added.

"Yeah. Max, Zack, Logan, Lydecker, Syl and me. We had everything worked out." Krit continued.

"Wait. Lydecker? But..." I asked, latching onto the one thing that made sense to me in all that they were saying.

"I know. He was the enemy. But...it's a long story, but now he's on our side. He helped us get into Manticore. He told us how to destroy it. He said we just had to blow up the genetics lab and Manticore would be finished. We weren't ready for the X-7's." Krit said sadly.

"What happened?" I pressed, my voice sounding hollow to my ears.

"They managed to blow up the genetics lab, but..." Logan tried to continue but was unable to.

"They got Zack and they killed poor Maxy." Syl choked.

I couldn't believe what I was hearing.

"And you didn't go back for him?! You let Manticore have Zack?!" I was screaming at them now.

All three of them winced. None of them spoke.

"I've got to save him." I said and turned to go steal Logan's car and drive straight to Manticore.

"No!" Krit and Syl both cried, leaping to restrain me.

"Let go of me!" I yelled, struggling viciously.

"You can't go back there!" Syl protested.

"It's suicide!" Krit agreed.

I stopped struggling.

"If neither of you soldiers has the guts to go back in, then someone else has to. I have to. Now release me." I said in a dangerous voice.

Maybe it was because they were used to following Zack's orders and my tone of voice struck that cord, but they did as I said and stepped back.

"No one could make it in there now. Not even your brother, Zack." a new voice said.

I whipped around and spotted a new man. He must have listened in on the conversation from a secure location because I hadn't seen him.

"Who are you?" I asked coldly.

"Colonel Lydecker. Who..." he began.

I think my lunging at him and knocking him to the floor cut off his speaking.

"Did you set my brother up?" I growled.

"No." he coughed, "Your brother was too much of a soldier to get set up."

"My brother is. Not was. He's not dead." I said sharply.

"Maybe. But if he's alive he's being reprogrammed by that bitch Remfrough." Lydecker said, "When you get in there you might find yourself facing Zack."

I hadn't realized that.

"They can do that?" I asked quietly, hoping and praying that it was some kind of sick joke and they really didn't have that kind of power.

"You mean he didn't tell you about Brin?" Lydecker asked, a disbelieving tone in his voice.

I shook my head. Slowly I retreated and allowed Lydecker to sit up.

"The reprogramming is extremely affective. Your sister Brin is now completely devoted to Manticore and her master, Remfrough." Lydecker said.

No. Not Brin. Why hadn't Zack told me?

"Brin recaptured. What else has happened that Zack didn't tell me?" I asked.

"Ben's dead." Lydecker said without any preamble.

It felt like a blow.

"And Tinga." Krit added.

Another blow. I couldn't fight this kind of battle.

"And now Max." I said slowly as I felt the world around me falling to pieces, "And maybe my brother. He would rather die than let Manticore have him."

I closed my eyes to keep the tears from showing.

"What's your name, soldier?" Lydecker asked.

Bastard. Couldn't he see the pain I was in? He wasn't my C.O., damn it! This wasn't Manticore. And yet I couldn't find the willpower to do anything but obey orders and answer the question. Nor could I find the strength to open my eyes and face the world.

"Ty." I said.

"Who created you?" Lydecker pressed.

"Remfrough."

"So you're one of hers. I see. The rumors were true. She did make a patch of her own little lackeys." Lydecker said.

My eyes flew open filled with hatred. Suddenly my hands were clenching Lydecker's jacket and I was throwing him up against Logan's car.

"I am NOT one of hers! I am NOT her lackey!" I growled, then added more quietly, "I'm more than a barcode."

Lydecker said nothing. I released him and turned to walk aimlessly across the room. How could this have happened? If only I had gone with Zack this time. Maybe I could have saved him. Maybe I could have even saved Max.

No! I didn't know for sure that Zack was dead. There was still hope. There was still a chance to save him from Manticore. Like he saved me.

"I have to go in." I repeated, "One of you will take me to Manticore."

"But..." Syl began to argue.

"There's still a chance that he's alive!" I cried, whirling on her, "I have to know! I can get in. I will go alone. There is less chance on one person being detected. And one of you will take me. I don't care who. Decide now."

I scanned each of their faces. Logan turned away from me. I caught the look on his face. He was thinking about going back there and it had caused him too much pain. He wouldn't take me. Syl still had tears in her eyes. She cared too much. She was too emotional. She was too weak. She wouldn't take me. Krit wouldn't meet my eyes. He looked ashamed. His guilty feelings could cause him to do something dangerous like try to follow me in or try to stop me at the last minute. So that left Lydecker. I looked straight at him and we both knew that he would be the one to take me to Manticore.

"Get in the car." I ordered him.

He obeyed. It felt good to give an order to the almighty Lydecker and have it obeyed. Zack was twice the man he was. And after what he had done to the X-5's, to my brother, I hoped he would suffer horribly.

Logan did not protest when we took his car and left. It was time to put my training back into action.

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This section was a bit longer than the other ones, but I hope you liked it. Also, the building where Krit, Syl, and Lydecker were was the building that they used as their HQ in AJBAC. I figured that they would have nowhere else to go and Krit and Syl would be too emotionally torn apart to move on and leave Seattle. Also, I am unsure on what Lydecker's actual rank is so if it's not colonel could someone please tell me. Thanks.

Gabrielle


	5. Search and Rescue

****

Search and Rescue

Lydecker and I did not speak at all on the drive. I didn't care. I had my own problems. Besides, I would have been perfectly happy if he had dropped dead.

We drove for what seemed like forever and at the same time only a second. We arrived at Manticore that night, late. The cover of darkness would be my ally.

Lydecker pulled something out of his pocket and handed it to me. It was a map of Manticore. Weak spots in the defenses had already been marked.

Next, Lydecker produced a gun and handed it to me. Following the gun came an extra clip. I stared at them for a moment before tucking the two items into my clothing where I could easily reach them.

"That's all I can give you." Lydecker said.

I nodded.

"This is a stupid risk. Completely against everything I know she taught you." he said.

I shot a look at him.

"Do I look like I care?"

I got out of the car and stalked towards the fence. I paused only once to study the map and commit the useful information to memory. Then I ran for the fence and leaped over. I was back in Manticore. Back in hell. The place that had destroyed my family. But I had come back to try to save part of it. A big part.

I continued to run, using the cover that the brush provided. The only guards I saw were two that were headed into the complex. In a flash I was on them. Before they had a chance to fully open the door they were both dead. I hadn't wanted to kill them, hadn't set out to, but I couldn't risk leaving them alive. It was for Zack.

I stripped one and assumed the less conspicuous uniform. I pulled the soldier's cap low over my face and made sure that the identity badge was easily visible on my chest before re-opening the door and entering.

I tried not to think. I didn't want any flashbacks. I didn't want any reminders. So I let myself become an unthinking soldier within the walls that had trained me for it. My whole life revolved around the mission. Search and locate Zack. Rescue Zack.

With my entire being focused on that it was almost simple to pick up on Zack and follow the smell and the feeling of his presence to him.

It was a solitary wing of Manticore. I should know. It was where I had lived. Remfrough, Madame X, had put Zack in the same room that had been mine.

I looked in the small window positioned on the door to see Zack lying on a bed, my bed, heavily restrained. My badge pressed to an ID pad granted me access to the room. This was almost too easy.

"Zack." I said softly.

"Ty?" he asked, confused.

So he hadn't made himself forget yet. I went to him quickly and began to undo his restraints. He looked so horrible. I could see he had been tortured horribly. It pained me just to look at him. This was even worse than the last time Manticore had tortured Zack. He hadn't been able to hide that from me.

"I should be dead." he moaned and I wasn't sure if he was even talking to me, "They should have let me kill myself. They should have saved her. They should have let me save her."

Tears began to build in his eyes and run slowly and painfully down his cheeks. I think he had forgotten I was there.

"Oh, Maxy." he said, staring at something I couldn't see, "I love you so much. Why couldn't I save you?"

I was almost shocked into not moving. I guess I had always sort of known that Zack's feelings towards Max were different than the ones he had for the other X-5's and for me. I just hadn't realized exactly how different or how strong those feelings were.

I had to get him out of here.

Suddenly, I sensed movement behind me. I turned slowly. A shadow was stalking me. Something dark and stealthy and powerful was circling me. I tracked it with my eyes, tensing for an attack.

The shadow flew at me and I saw it was a she. Then I had no time to think, only react, as I blocked her attacks. 

We broke apart and circled. I almost hate to admit that I truly felt like a predator then. Every fiber of my body was tuned into that fight. It was more intense than any fight I had been in whether training at Manticore or arguing with Zack. I was into it.

She rushed me again and we fought for another furious moment before breaking apart again.

"Welcome home, 599." she said.

How did she know me?

"Who are you?" I asked.

She didn't answer but attacked again. This time she didn't get to retreat. I threw her to the ground, pinning her. However, the second that happened I heard the door crack open. A soldier stood there with a gun in her hand. I rolled out of the way and pulled my own gun. The shadow retreated to the older soldier's side and they closed the door slightly for cover. I took the moment that gave me to yank off the last of the restraints on my brother and pull him down beside the bed with me. He still seemed out of it. I didn't think any of what was going on was registering with him.

I ducked my heard as they fired at us again. I fired a few shots of my own and ducked again.

"Snap out of it, Zack!" I said urgently.

Zack continued to babble about Max. I slapped him, hard.

"Zack, I need you!"

Zack's eyes focused on me and his face hardened. I began to see my Zack again.

A shot ricotched too near and I fired back. I heard a cry. I had hit. There was a lapse in the firing. I must have hit the shooter.

"Big brother, are you with me?" I asked.

"I'm here, little sister." Zack's hard voice came to me.

"Good." 

I signaled quickly and Zack flew over the bed to cover the door. As long as the metal door was between us and them, that soldier's weapon would be ineffective. But that was the least of our problems now.

I joined Zack as he scanned the area outside the door through the window.

"That's Brin that was firing on us." he said.

An X-5. But who was the soldier, the shadow, I had fought with?

"What about the other one? Can you identify her?" 

Zack looked again and froze.

"It's Max." he said.

"It can't be Max. What do you mean it's Max?" I demanded.

More tears appeared in Zack's eyes.

"She has Max in her." was all he said.

That was all the explanation I needed to hear. Facts seemed to come together and click in my brain. When Lydecker had spoken of Remfrough and the rumors about her special projects, he had used the plural. It made sense that after my escape, Remfrough would try again. But no, the soldier I had fought was too near my age for that. She must have been created very soon after I had.

No time to think about it. Had to get out. We were trapped in there.

"Zack! Zack! How do we get out?" I asked.

I knew Zack was in no condition for this, but I needed him to take command. He met my gaze and I knew that he knew it, too.

"Give me the gun." he ordered.

I obeyed. Zack kicked the door open and quickly opened fire on the soldiers that were now surrounding the door. I jumped one and took his weapon. I covered Zack's back. Brin and the SP-Max were gone.

Ah! Pain! I was hit! Couldn't let it affect me. Had to keep fighting.

A hole appeared in the enemy lines. Zack and I both saw it and ran for it. We could hear them coming after us, shooting after us. We managed to turn corners and dodge the bullets. We were almost out, I could feel it.

And suddenly Zack stopped. I spin and ran back to him.

"Zack, come on!"

"Max." he whispered and took off down a different corridor.

I followed. Max was dead. He had said so himself. His delusions were going to get us killed.

Zack spun on me and ripped the stolen badge off my uniform. He pressed it to another ID pad and burst into the room. I followed him yet again.

And there was Max. I had no doubts that it was her. She stared at Zack and Zack stared at her, both in shock at seeing the other. I broke them out of it by tearing the restraints off Max. A moment later Zack was doing the same. I could hear soldiers coming closer.

Zack tried to pick Max up, but she shoved him away and got to her feet. We all looked at each other and ran.

Run fast. Ignore the pain from the bullet wound. Turn the corner. Soldiers close. Enemy ahead of us. Take them out. Door in sight. Run faster.

We were out! But not safe. Not yet.

And then the shadow was back. And behind her was my creator with Brin at her side. We all froze.

The shadow had a gun leveled at us. Brin also had a weapon. Remfrough appeared unarmed, secure in the safety that her soldiers brought her. Bitch.

"Hello, SP-599. You've caused quite a bit of trouble. But now you're home. You can't escape. The X-7's are guarding he perimeter." she said.

"Bitch." Max hissed, "You told me he was dead."

"And I told him that you were dead." she shrugged, "And I had almost broken both of you, too."

I'd kill her. I hated her.

I lunged at the SP, taking another bullet, but getting her down. Max and Zack both reacted instantly. Max had Brin. Zack had Remfrough, a gun to her head.

The SP struggled viciously. I hit her solidly in the temple with both fists. She went limp. She'd be conscious again only too soon.

"Bring her." Zack ordered.

I blinked in surprise, but followed orders. I managed to heft her over my uninjured shoulder.

We left Brin unconscious. Remfrough came with us. She would be our clearance.

"You don't know what you're doing." she said.

"Shut up." Zack growled.

"This is..." she began.

"He said shut up." I snapped.

We were nearing the fence. Sure enough, X-7's stood poised along its length.

"Order them to stand down." Zack commanded.

Remfrough was silent.

Zack cocked the gun.

"Do it!"

Self-preservation won out and she ordered them to stand down. Zack signaled me to go first. Then, Max. I looked back at him from the other side of the fence, willing him to kill Remfrough. Please, big brother, kill her for me.

But the X-7's were watching. The second he pulled the trigger or released her they would shoot a million holes in him. So he took the only option left, he brought Remfrough over the fence with him.

Lydecker was where I had left him. He said nothing when I entered with my hostage SP. He did comment when Max climbed in followed closely by Zack and Remfrough.

"Max." he said in surprise.

"Step on it." Max snapped at him.

Lydecker's face hardened to the mask of a soldier again and we sped out of there.

Zack rendered Remfrough unconscious. None of us spoke.

By the time we were back at the building we had started from, my big brother, Max, and I were all nearing the point of passing out ourselves.

Mission accomplished.

-------------------------------------------------------------

I know that I still have a lot of explaining to do. You'll get the full report in the next section, Torture Tactics. I hope this part came off as believable.

Gabrielle


	6. Torture Tactics

****

Torture Tactics

I stumbled as I got out of the car. I had a bullet wound to my shoulder and to my side. I was lucky with the last one. It hadn't been centered enough to hit my stomach. That would have been bad.

Still, I helped Zack out of the car. He was so much worse than I was. I hadn't noticed when he had acquired another bullet wound himself to the left arm. He was so close to unconsciousness. I dragged him over to a mattress in the corner that must have served as someone's sleeping quarters.

"Sleep, Zack. You're safe now." I told him. 

He nodded and went slack in my arms almost instantly. I left him where he was.

Krit and Syl were ecstatic. They had gotten Max out of the car and were asking her questions. She seemed pretty confused herself. Logan Cale wheeled up to her and they stared at each other for a full minute before they both started outside.

I heard a groan from the back of the car.

The SP was waking up. I called for help.

"Krit!" I called.

He came quickly, looking at me questioningly.

"There's a soldier in there. An SP like me. You'll need to restrain her before she wakes up completely. Then you need to restrain Remfrough."

At the name of my creator, hatred filled Krit's eyes.

"You brought the bitch that killed Tinga?" he asked.

"Had to. She has answers." with that, I collapsed.

I was only out a few moments because when I woke again Krit was still tying up the SP. I didn't want to face this now. I didn't want to go through the long process of interrogating our two captives. I was tired.

I dragged my weary body over to join Zack on the filthy mattress. I just wanted to rest for a little while someplace warm. Seattle was very cold. Manticore was cold. I felt cold.

I curled up at the foot of the mattress like some pet dog. I was too tired to feel resentful at that thought. I just wanted to be near enough to my brother that if he woke up in pain I would hear him and be there to help him. Zack had taken care of me for so long. Now I would take care of him.

I sighed and fell asleep, thinking that. It caused me to smile slightly even as I was fading into oblivion. The thought of what Zack would say to that statement was highly amusing.

I woke up what seemed like only a moment later. Zack was still sleeping peacefully so that's not what woke me. I think perhaps it was the cold, concentrated glare that the SP had fixed on me that had disturbed my sleep.

I got up and went to stand in front of her. Krit had handcuffed her hands behind her back to a solid metal pole. Her feet were likewise handcuffed.

"Who are you?" I asked her for the second time.

"SP-452/493." she said.

"How do you know who I am?" I asked.

"Remfrough. She told me all about the deserter." SP-452/493 said, sneering contemptuously at me.

I didn't feel up to talking to her anymore. I couldn't face that inbred contempt right now. I was still badly injured. I should take care of my wounds before the became infected.

I turned away from SP-452/493 and went in search of medical supplies.

"Coward." she called after me.

I ignored her. I found what I was seeking and began the painful process of cleaning my wounds.

"I hope I never become like you." she continued.

I finally turned to her again, fed up.

"Do you even know who I am? What I have become without Manticore beating me down? I've learned things that you can never learn back there. I've learned to think for myself, to feel. I've learned that I am more than just a barcode. I'm a person."

"You're weak." she said with the same sneer.

"Do even know what those numbers that you rattle off as part of your name are? That's Max. And it was Ben. They're your family and through them we are your family. That's something you can't have back at Manticore." I insisted.

"Your torture tactics are pathetic, as well." she said with disgust.

I sighed and shook my head. I was the wrong person to be talking to her. I couldn't do it. Not right now anyway.

I finished bandaging my wounds and went to wake up Zack and care for his. I wanted him to get all the sleep he could, but it would be a bad idea to let his wounds go unattended for too long.

He smiled at me when I woke him up.

"Thank you, Ty."

I dropped my eyes feelings myself smile. I was pleased that I had been able to save him and save the person he loved on top of that. But when Zack smiled you had to feel more than just pleased. Zack's smiles are the highest praise and the greatest reward I could receive.

I handed him the case of medical supplies and he began to clean and dress his wounds as I had mine. With all the wounds he had I don't know how he decided which one took precedence.

"Never do that to me again, big brother." I said as I watched him.

"I don't plan on it."

We sat in companionable silence for a moment before I broke it.

"What happened that night, Zack? You said some things when you were out of it." I said.

Zack looked at me sharply.

"What did I say?"

"You talked about them not letting you kill yourself to save Max. You talked about...Max." I said awkwardly.

Zack dropped his gaze and sighed heavily.

"Don't tell her please." he said without looking up.

His voice sounded funny. Not like my confident, commanding big brother.

"I won't if you don't want me to." I promised.

He nodded. It was another long moment before he looked up again.

"You wanted to know what happened. We were almost out when I got hit. We had gone in to take out the genetics lab and get rid of Manticore. We didn't know they had a contingent of X-7's there. They were clones of us, Ty. Not like you were created using my DNA, but exact clones. They took me in, strapped down on one of those tables. I was taken into the same room that they had Maxy in. I yelled at her but she was beyond hearing me. She'd been shot. They were going to harvest her organs. I couldn't let them do that. I pulled out of the restraints and grabbed a gun. I had Remfrough at gunpoint. I ordered the doctors to fix her. They said her ventricle had collapsed, they couldn't. They told me they had no donors. I would have shot Remfrough right there, but she said they needed an X-5 heart to save Max. I was going to shoot myself in the head so they could give her my heart. But they tazered me. The gun went off, but hit nothing. They told me Max was dead." Zack said and I could see how much that had torn him apart.

"I was really worried about you." I said.

Zack smiled again at that.

"I thought I was the one who had to worry about all my brothers and sisters." he said.

"Well, someone has to worry about you."

"Well, don't worry too much. I can take care of myself." he said.

"Oh, really?" I said, allowing a smile of my own to show, "Well, I think you better go take a shower, big brother, 'cause you smell horrible."

I made a show of wrinkling my nose in disgust. He laughed at me.

"Okay, okay. You win." he sobered suddenly, "But when I get back there had better be lots and lots of food in here 'cause I am starving."

"Yes, sir!" I agreed, giving him a mock salute.

He rose slowly, his wounds were hurting him. I shoved the medical kit at him and he left to go locate a place with clean water to wash himself.

Well now I had half of the story. I looked around and found that Max was sitting with Krit and Syl across the large room, interrogating Remfrough. I joined them.

"Well if you didn't use Zack's heart than where did you get the transplant?" Krit demanded.

"That would be Tinga's heart you have, Max. We secured her body and harvested it." Remfrough said.

All three X-5's looked about to pounce on her and tear her to shreds.

"Tell them about this SP." I ordered from behind them.

Remfrough looked at me and frowned.

"I had so much hope for you." she said.

"Shut up. I meant your new little soldier." I said.

Remfrough sighed.

"SP-452/493." she said, "After I began creating you, problems began to arise. Zack became rebellious, harder to control. He would take responsibility for all the faults of his brothers and sisters. That kind of sentimentality is dangerous. So I began a new project using Ben's DNA and yours, Max. You were good in training. And Ben was easier to control although very dedicated to his mission. It was a good mix."

"You manipulative bitch." Max whispered.

None of us asked any more questions. I don't think any of us wanted to hear more.

"What do you plan to accomplish by holding us here? You're just going to bring Manticore down on you." Remfrough said.

"You need to shut up." Max growled at her.

"You want to kill me. Why haven't you?" she pressed.

Max got in her face.

"You want me to kill you? Just say the word, girlfriend, 'cause I'm itching for it." she said.

Remfrough had the sense to remain silent. Max backed off. She looked at me and motioned for me to follow her. 

"I never got your name." she said softly, her manner at complete odds with the one she had taken with Remfrough.

"Ty." I said.

"Thanks for saving my butt back there, Ty. And our C.O.'s butt, too." she said.

I shrugged.

"It's what I had to do."

"I got your story from Krit and Syl. And Remfrough. Sick, twisted bitch." Max said, "I wish Zack had told us about you. You're part of our family, you know."

"I know." I said, feeling a warm sensation at this acknowledgement.

"Thanks again. For bringing him back to us." she said, "I thought he was gone forever."

I looked at her and felt a strong urge to tell her how Zack felt about her, but I didn't. I had promised and I would never break a promise to Zack.

"Where is he, anyway?" she asked, looking around.

"I told him he smelled. He went to take a shower." I said.

Max laughed at that and smiled warmly at me.

"I think we better find some food before he gets back. He warned me that he's starving." I continued.

Max nodded.

"Come on. We'll rustle up some grub for big brother to chow down on. I think the rest of us are kinda hungry, too." she said, heading for Logan's car.

I stopped her. There was a spreading stain on her shirt over where her bullet wound must have been.

"You should take care of that first. Then, we'll go." I said.

Max nodded again and went to do that.

"How touching." the SP called after me, "The X-5's are treating the little deserter freak like one of them."

"Shut up." I snapped at her.

"Or you'll do what?" she replied.

"I wish you knew what you're missing." I told her.

I couldn't help but pity her. She was what I could have been if Zack hadn't saved me.

I suddenly hoped that we could save her, too.

------------------------------------------------------------

Alright, I'm gonna work on another section. I hope you guys are still buying into this. I want this all to make sense. I figured Zack's story could be true since you never really see him shoot himself, only hear the noise and see him fall forward. And when he does there's no blood or brain matter or even an exit wound. Anyway, let me know if this has gotten completely ridiculous.

Gabrielle


	7. Unconventional Warfare

****

Unconventional Warfare

Max and I went to Logan's apartment and raided for all things resembling food. We would have bought some, but neither of us had any money on us. Logan had wanted to come, but Max stopped him with a brief kiss and a few soft words that I had not ordained to listen in on.

"So why do you think Mr. Stick Up His Ass never told us about you?" Max asked on the drive.

I shrugged.

"He has his reasons. He wants to keep me safe." I said.

I didn't say that I had often wondered the same thing. Didn't Zack trust his own family to keep the secret? I think that maybe through me Zack was guarding a part of himself.

I changed the subject.

"So who's this Logan?" I asked.

Max smiled.

"Logan is...you know, I'm not sure exactly what Logan is. He's special."

"But you care for him, right?"

"Yes. I care a lot, really." Max admitted.

And now my brother's feelings came into perspective. I dropped the topic.

We made what Zack would call pointless small talk until we arrived back at what I'd come to think of as our base of operations. Despite the fact that she was causing my brother all kinds of problems, I decided I liked this Max.

We got out of the car to the noise of Zack yelling loudly at SP-452/493.

"You will speak when you are spoken to, soldier!" 

SP-452/493 smiled sarcastically.

"What's the matter, Zackie? Can't handle it when someone doesn't treat you like the big C.O.?" she taunted.

"She's got guts." Max commented, "Even I wouldn't call him Zackie."

I didn't comment but continued to watch.

Zack got right in the SP's face and his voice lowered to a growl.

"You don't know who you're messing with."

"Neither do you." she replied.

Zack was really mad. I could see his jaw twitch from where I stood. One more comment from SP-452/493 and things would become physical instead of verbal.

"Besides," she continued with that one comment that would do it, "you couldn't take me if you tried."

"Krit!" Zack yelled.

I could see Krit wince as he cautiously approached.

"Where are the keys to those handcuffs?" Zack asked, his voice clipped, gesturing at the handcuffs that restrained the SP.

"Are you sure that's a good..." Krit began.

"Are you questioning me?" Zack demanded, whirling on Krit.

I knew Zack. He would not tolerate his command being questioned in the presence of the enemy. Krit knew this, too. I could tell.

"No, sir." he said, eyeing the SP as he said it.

"Give me the keys." Zack said stiffly.

Krit pulled the keys out of his pocket and tossed them to Zack. He then retreated to his former position beside Syl.

"This outta be good." Max said, leaning back against the car to watch the show.

The SP didn't move until Zack had unlocked both handcuffs. A smart move considering she wouldn't have the use of her hands if she had kicked Zack the second her feet were free.

Zack backed up, tossing the keys back at Krit. The SP followed, her eyes never leaving him. They circled, each studying the other. Everyone in the building from Max and me to Lydecker and Renfro were watching.

I heard Logan wheel up beside Max, but didn't take my eyes off the fight.

"What's the point of this anyway?" Logan asked.

"He's trying to break her." Max explained, "He's proving he's C.O."

"So basically he's trying to prove that he's still dominant over his little pack." Logan said disdainfully.

His tone of voice made my eyes snap towards him and I felt an urge to shake him until his teeth rattled for such a comment. Apparently Max hadn't taken it too lightly, either.

"Just don't, Logan. I'm getting really sick of the petty jealousy thing. There's nothing between Zack and me and there isn't going to be. But he is my brother, got it? So stop with the chauvinistic crap!" she said.

"I'm sorry, Max. You're right. You're right. I trust you. Zack and I...we just have conflicting personalities. I can't help it." Logan apologized quickly.

This soon after loosing Max and thinking he would never get her back I wasn't surprised at how quick his apology was. Just from the little I knew about Logan, I doubted he and Zack would ever like each other.

I dismissed Logan from my thoughts as I sensed a rapid movement out of the corner of my eye. Someone had attacked. The SP, she had attacked first. Zack blocked and counterattacked. Their blows were all very fast. Zack scored the first hit, to her stomach. The force of the blow sent her stumbling back a few steps as she caught her breath. Zack showed no mercy. but continued to attack. She blocked furiously, but she had lost the offensive and her advantage. We all knew it was Zack's fight although she fought really well. Better than I had when I fought Zack. I had to admit that although I did so grudgingly. She had scored on him a couple of times, exploiting his weak spots: the bullet wounds. If Zack hadn't been so angry she might have won.

But had it had any affect on her besides to make her glare up at Zack from the ground where she had fallen and not yet risen from yet? The whole idea was for Zack to earn her respect in a way that she would understand.

"On your feet, soldier." Zack ordered her.

The SP looked at Zack, then looked at Renfro. She looked back at Zack again and spat on the ground in disgust. Zack turned away from her, still angry and motioned to Krit and Syl to go get her and handcuff her again. He signaled to Max to watch everything, then signaled to me to follow him. I nodded and walked with him outside.

"Are you alright?" I asked once we were beyond the hearing of everyone inside.

"I'm fine." Zack grunted in that way that I knew meant he was hurt but wouldn't admit it.

"You know you might have made a little progress there if it hadn't been for Renfro. We have to separate the two." I said.

"I know." Zack agreed.

"So what did you want to talk to me out here for?" I asked, stopping.

Zack refused to meet my gaze and said nothing.

"Are you going to talk or aren't you?" I pressed.

"You're the only one I can talk to, Ty." he said slowly.

I waited for him to continue.

"I'm attracted to her."

Did he mean the SP?! He had to mean her. But how could he...? Why was he telling me this?

"Why are telling me this?" I asked cautiously.

"You're supposed to yell at me! Tell me that it's sick and wrong to be attracted to her because she's part Max! You're supposed to tell me what an asshole I am for not stuffing this phoney sentimentality! You're supposed to tell me that I don't ever have a shot in hell with Max and I shouldn't hate Logan for having her. You're supposed to call me a sick, cold-hearted bastard for trying to substitute SP-452/493 for Max."

"Zack, stop." I said.

"Why?" he asked scornfully, "I deserve worse. I should..."

"Stop it!" I yelled at him.

Zack just looked at me strangely.

"Zack, there is nothing wrong with you being attracted to her. Max is your type and I guess, so is she. That's normal. I don't know about substituting her for Max, but you are right that you shouldn't hate Logan. And you shouldn't hate yourself either."

"But I do, Ty. I hate that I feel this way and I can't do a damn thing about it. I hate that I can't say a word about how I feel to anyone but you. I hate that I'm so much like the soldier that Manticore wanted me to be because I don't know how to be anything else. I hate that I am the way I am." Zack insisted.

"But Zack, if you were any other way, you wouldn't be you. You sacrifice yourself repeatedly for us and I don't think you know that you do. And that's who you are. You're my strong, caring, protective big brother and I love you." I finished and hugged him.

"Ty." Zack protested in his embarrassed voice and I could almost see him roll his eyes without having to look.

"I'll stop embarrassing you if you stop the Zack-bashing." I offered.

"Deal."

I let him out of the hug and stepped back. We were both silent for a long moment.

"Your hair smells good." Zack commented finally.

"Zack!" I said in mock-surprise, "That sounds like an attempt at meaningless small talk."

"If I let you ride my motorcycle will you stop making fun of me?"

"Of course." I agreed quickly, "But you have to go eat. You made me go find food so you better eat it."

"And trust you alone with my motorcycle?"

"Don't try me."

"No, sir." Zack taunted me.

"Careful. You might get a sense of humor." I replied.

In the end, I was granted the freedom of flying down Seattle's streets while Zack disposed of a large portion of Logan's food supply. With the wind in my face it was hard to think about anything else.

----------------------------------------------------------

Maybe a little sappy, but oh well. And I will get back to Renfro, don't worry. Man, do I hate her! Down girl. Behave.

It's okay. I'm okay.

Gabrielle


	8. Direct Action

****

Direct Action

I finally decided that as much as I was enjoying myself, I needed to get back. My sense of duty demanded it. So I turned around and retraced my path back to base, allowing myself a last few moments of wild, unbound freedom.

As I approached I caught sight of Krit and Syl standing outside. I waved a greeting as I slowed and parked the motorcycle. I took off Zack's helmet and shook my hair free. Krit and Syl assumed relaxed positions near me.

"Hey, Ty." Krit said.

"Zack wanted us to keep an eye out for you." Syl explained.

"Something wrong?" I asked.

They both shook their heads.

"Nah. That SP keeps taunting Zack and making him more and more difficult to be around is all." Krit commented.

"What about Renfro?" 

"Max and Lydecker are still grilling her. I don't know what they're looking for. She's a bitch. She killed Tinga." Syl said simply.

"And you two aren't worried about her or Manticore coming down on us?" I asked, eyeing them skeptically.

"We have our brother and sister back. What's to worry about?" Syl replied, a smile coming onto her face.

"The five of us can handle whatever comes." Krit agreed confidently, "No, we're just wondering how long before Zack and that SP end up at each other's throats again."

"I'm telling you, she's gonna crack." Syl said instantly and I could tell this was something they had discussed before.

From the stories Zack had told me I knew that Krit and Syl had always been close. I could see that now in their easy companionship and the way that they calmly bet each other on what would happen first: Zack and the SP getting in another fight or Zack un-programming her.

"Ty, am I right or am I right?" Krit asked finally.

It felt nice to be included with such easy acceptance. It implied that they agreed that I was one of them and I felt that they would never distrust me or exclude me again. Not as long as I remained out of Manticore's grasp.

"I'm not getting in the middle of this." I declared.

"See, she knows I'm right." Syl said, sticking her tongue out at Krit.

"Sure, Syl. Whatever you say." Krit said sarcastically and gave me a conspiratorial wink.

I shook my head and pushed past them into the base.

"Don't say we didn't warn you about big brother!" Krit called after me.

"I'm sure I can handle it!" I called back.

I heard continuing lines of their argument as I entered the main part of our base.

"Syl, I have two words for you: smack down." Krit said.

"Well, if she calls him Zackie again, then yeah." Syl countered.

I shook my head again in amusement and put their comments out of my mind as I focused on what was in front of me. I absently noted that Logan's car was gone and judging from the absence of his scent, him with it. I also noticed that Krit had been correct, Zack was prowling back and forth before the SP looking livid.

"Where've you been traitor?" the SP called, "We've missed you."

Zack glanced briefly at me but did not otherwise acknowledge me. I cautiously came closer. I did not in any way want to have Zack's anger turned on me.

"You sure talk a lot for a soldier." I commented.

She shrugged, a rather awkward motion with her hands handcuffed behind her.

"What else can I do? Your precious Zackie is too much of a coward to fight me again. Thinks I might outwit him this time and escape. " she said, glancing at him to see what effect her comments were having on him.

Zack's jaw twitched, but he didn't react to her words. She sighed heavily.

"Actually, this must be the most boring torture session I've ever experienced." she said.

"We're not trying to torture you. We're trying to get you to realize that is what you're already putting up with at Manticore." I said evenly.

She rolled her eyes.

"Even in the time you've been here you've showed more emotion than they would have allowed you at Manticore. You must have noticed that. You're little opinion about how boring this is would have cost you back there." I pressed.

She said nothing and I think that I must have struck a chord because she seemed to be unable to argue with that.

I turned from her to my brother, carefully measuring how much distance to leave him and how to phrase what I wanted to ask him.

"A word, Zack?" I asked.

He nodded and motioned towards the far end of the room where we could speak low and not be overheard.

"She's infuriating, Ty!" he said sharply.

"So are you." I replied.

Zack glared at me as if I had betrayed him.

"Well, you are. She's as stubborn as either of us and she's got Max's bad attitude to boot. But she also has feelings. We'll get to her." I said determinedly.

Zack calmed down visibly at that and I felt less like I was fighting a strategic battle with him. I allowed myself time to think of other things than how my words would affect him. Like what would affect the SP.

"What made you finally give the order for the escape?" I asked Zack finally.

Zack looked down.

"Max's seizures were getting worse. I couldn't let them take her away like they did Jack." he said.

"That's it." I said.

Zack obviously didn't know what I was talking about but followed me silently as I walked back over to the SP.

"Tell me," I asked her with enough command in my voice to make it less of a casual question and more of an order, "did Renfro create any other SP's besides the two of us?"

She looked down quickly and I knew I had found a weakness.

"Yes." she said finally. She looked up at me suspiciously, "Why?"

"She's asking the questions here." Zack managed to almost not snap.

Before the SP could respond with another taunt at Zack's expense, I continued.

"What happened to them? Who were they?" I pressed.

The SP cast about with her eyes as if seeking out someone to tell her whether or not she should answer the question. No Renfro to help her there now.

"SP-656/397. And SP-734/599." she said quietly.

"Tinga and Jondy." Zack said.

"And you and Brin." I added.

"What happened to them?" Zack demanded.

The SP wasn't looking at us anymore. She almost appeared to not even be aware of us. She never looked up, but spoke in response to Zack's demand.

"734-599, he was my SIC. He failed a training procedure and was punished. He started shaking and couldn't stop. I never saw him again. But I heard him screaming." she coughed harshly and her voice hardened, "He was weak."

"And what about SP-656/397?" I asked.

"She was killed in an accident during a field exercise. She should have been better than that. She should have been able to avoid it. She was weak, too." SP-452/493 said coldly.

"Have you ever stopped to think that they would both be here now if it wasn't for Manticore?" Zack asked, taking over suddenly.

I stepped back to allow him to take over the questioning. We had found a way to get through to her. Now he should be the one to exploit it. He was supposed to be the C.O. after all.

"They were weak!" she screamed at him, "They didn't deserve to live!"

Zack sighed heavily, looking as if he had resolved himself to do something that he didn't want to do. I felt apprehensive about whatever that might be.

"Ty, stand back. I have something I need to show SP-452/493." he said.

I backed up a reasonable distance and watched apprehensively as Zack pulled keys out of his pocket (when had Krit given him the keys again?) and undid the SP's handcuffs for the second time.

"What are you doing?" she demanded.

"You'll see." Zack said, "Now, fight me."

"Don't need to ask me twice, Zackie." she said with a sneer.

She sprang from her chair towards Zack. Zack responded by pushing her past him and taking up a fighting stance. She didn't fall into her normal fighting routine of circle, study the opponent, attack. No, this time she just flew at Zack, attacking wildly. Zack was caught off guard and fell back, his eyes wide at the fury that had flown at him.

Seeing my brother might have gotten a little more than he had anticipated, I decided to call Krit and Syl in for a little extra back-up incase something happened and the SP tried to escape. I slipped towards the door and poked my head outside.

"Krit. Syl." I called quickly.

Immediately, the two X-5's were inside with me. Krit beamed the minute he saw what was going on.

"That's ten bucks you owe me, Syl." he said.

"Oh, shut up." Syl replied.

I ignored them and continued to keep my eyes glued on the fight, monitoring how well Zack was doing. He had gotten back into it, the look of surprise on his face dissipating into a determined, stony expression. This was an all-out, hold no punches, genetically enhanced battle.

Block. Block. Kick. Punch. Punch. Block. This was almost too fast for even my eyes to follow. Suddenly, Zack was on the ground and the SP's boot was pressing painfully down on his throat. Zack kicked and hit the SP in the back, knocking her forward. He rolled out of the way just before she hit the ground. She caught herself on her hands and pushed herself over onto her back. Zack fell on her before she was able to counter and pinned her to the ground. She struggled and thrashed but she couldn't get free of his grip.

"I'm stronger than you." Zack said and she stopped struggling slightly to listen to him, "Should I kill you?"

Now she stopped struggling completely. She looked at Zack strangely, as if she was just now seeing him.

"Like I said: smack down." Krit said happily, breaking whatever kind of moment it had been.

Zack slowly got back to his feet. The SP continued to simply stare at him. He offered her his hand and slowly, hesitantly, she took it.

"I don't want to die because I'm weak." she said so quietly that a normal human wouldn't have heard.

"We wouldn't do that to you. Manticore would." Zack said.

The SP didn't respond to that.

"I wish you had a name I...we could call you." Zack told her.

"We could think of a name for you." Krit offered.

Zack and the SP both shot a glare at Krit for interrupting. I caught Syl elbowing him sharply in the ribs as well.

"Krit, shut up." I also caught her growl through clenched teeth.

"I will name myself." she said with the remains of her independent pride.

I was almost amazed at the change in her. Zack had really done it. He had not only broken her, but she had even become human enough to accept a name instead of a number.

"What will your name be?" Zack asked.

"I knew someone once that I respected. A soldier at Manticore. His name was Cade. That will be my name." she said.

"Welcome to our side, Cade." Zack said.

Cade dropped her gaze, almost as if she was self-conscious. This all seemed all little too soon, a little too sudden. I found myself not trusting her without being able to really name a reason why.

At that moment, Max entered. She had a grim look on her face and was giving off an angry vibe to the rest of us. She marched towards Zack and only stopped when she noticed Cade.

"What's she..." Max began.

"She's with us now, Max." Zack explained.

Max eyed her with the same suspicion I felt. Cade met Max's gaze evenly. Max shook her head and turned back to Zack, evidently trusting his judgment on this matter. I knew I should, too. Zack was the most paranoid of any of us. If any of us should be suspicious, it should be him. If he trusted Cade, I should. But I just couldn't bring myself to.

"I need to bounce for a bit. Got some things I have to take care of." she said.

"Where're you going?" Zack asked stiffly.

"Back off, will you? It's my business, not yours. Don't worry. I'm just going to go to my apartment. Make sure Original Cindy hasn't trashed my bike. Let her know I'm alive. Check in with my friends. I'll be back before you know it." she promised.

Zack looked reluctant, but Max wasn't about to wait for his permission anyway. When Zack didn't immediately agree, she turned on her heel and strode out. 

"Oh, and I'm borrowing your bike!" she called over her shoulder.

Zack's jaw clenched slightly, but by the way his eyes followed Max I could tell that he still couldn't stay mad at her.

No one spoke for a long, awkward moment.

"I have to go, too." Zack said suddenly.

"What?" Cade demanded.

"I have things to take care of, too. It's getting late. There's no sense in all of us staying here all the time. We'll take shifts from now on for as long as we have to. Krit, Syl, Ty, can you take night watch tonight?" he asked.

"Sure." Syl nodded.

"Yeah." Krit agreed.

I simply nodded once.

"Cade, will you stay here? My brother and sisters will be here with you." Zack said, forcing himself not to give any orders but to ask.

"We'll get to know each other." Krit offered.

Cade glanced at the three of us, then back at Zack. She knew that it wasn't really an option. She was smarter than that. But she nodded as if she was agreeing to it and not "following orders" anyway.

Zack nodded once more. He signed quickly to us to watch Lydecker as well, that he still didn't trust him, as he left. I gave a quick affirmative signal back before he disappeared out the door. 

I was suddenly filled with apprehension for some reason I couldn't fathom. My gut was telling me that something was wrong. And that my brother was in trouble.

I glanced quickly at Cade, still suspicious, before sidling up next to Krit. His eyes widened in mild surprise and he looked about to say something. I quickly tapped out a message against his back.

"I don't trust her. Watch her. Something's wrong. I'm going to find out what." I tapped out.

With that I slid past him and out the door again. He could explain it to Syl. I would have to hurry if I wanted to keep up with Zack.

Zack had never shaken the habit of covering his tracks, making his trail hard to follow. But I had been trained to follow even the hardest trail. I was able to keep on his tail despite his efforts. I tracked him all the way to a large, inconspicuous, brown building. An apartment building. 

I couldn't shake the feeling of being followed myself. Maybe I was just being paranoid. Perhaps I had taken over that characteristic that had previously belonged to Zack. I ignored the feeling.

I scaled the side of the building, following Zack's movements through the windows. I watched as Zack strode into his sparsely furnished apartment.

He let out a heavy sigh and sunk into a couch, which was in major need of re-upholstering. The day must have weighed heavy on his mind: Max, Logan, me, the other SP "Cade". I knew he would just bottle up his emotions, as always. 

Ring, ring... it was his phone, Zack picked it up.   
"Hello?" he said into the receiver.   
He paused, listening.   
"She what? AWOL, when?"   
Something caught my attention in the shadows, movement. I shifted my weight, ready to come crashing through the window. The figure moved fully into the light. It was Cade, the other SP.   
"It's okay, she's with me." Zack said to the person on the other end of   
the line, most likely Krit or Syl.   
Zack placed the phone back on its hook.   
"What are you doing here? I thought I asked you to stay where you were." he asked Cade.   
"I decided to go for a walk." Cade said, her voice as always dripping with sarcasm.   
I gave this "Cade" a full once-over, for the first time since we found her. She had Max's brown hair, which hung a little longer, past her shoulders, and was straighter but still curly at the ends. The thing I really noticed was how her eyes glowed. And I mean they glowed, as if peering into your soul. She was tall and trim like the rest of us. I must admit she really was beautiful, just like Max.   
"How did you get here?" Zack asked with an interrogating tone.

That was my big brother, not one to fall for a pair of green eyes and a good figure. Right? I remembered our previous conversation about Cade and didn't feel so sure.   
"I followed you." Cade began to walk towards Zack, "I snuck out past Krit and Syl."   
She stopped when she was in front of him.

"And I followed you." 

So she had been the one shadowing me. I wondered if she had seen me. Apparently not.   
"You certainly enjoy causing trouble." Zack responded, shifting positions on the  
couch as if ready to rise, but remaining seated.   
"I guess it's in the genes." 

Even I got that insinuation. I wondered, though, how she had picked up on Zack's   
feelings. That escaped me.   
Luckily, Zack was the master of keeping a straight face and didn't play into her game. Cade brushed a lock of stray hair behind her ear.   
"Look Zack, I need to talk to you. I need to...ugh...well...um..."   
Zack tilted his head.   
"You need to what?"   
Cade sighed.   
"Thank you." she grimaced as the words rolled off her tongue, as if the words were bitter in her mouth.   
Zack actually laughed. I scanned my memory for the last time Zack had laughed and had a difficult time remembering when it had been. Of course, he had laughed before, but only when totally relaxed or comfortable with someone. I felt cheated that Cade had earned such a privilege so soon after supposedly turning from Manticore.   
"What was that?" Zack asked in amusement.   
"Oh, you heard me. Thank you. Thank you, you saved my life, and as much as I   
hate to admit it," she paused and her voice suddenly became very soft and emotional, "you saved me."   
The two locked eyes.   
Zack was the first to break the gaze.   
"I had to. You're family." 

His face was yet again unreadable and his voice monotone.   
"No." Cade said firmly.   
"No?" Zack questioned.   
"No, we are not family. Not like you and the rest. You are not my "big brother."   
Those words seemed to hit like a ton of bricks, but then again she was right. She wasn't even related to Zack, like me, or bonded like the others.   
"So what does that make us?" Zack asked, not exactly the response I was expecting.   
He rose from the couch.   
"We are both good soldiers." Cade informed him.   
Zack stared into her eyes. Those damn glowing eyes. He reached out and lightly touched the cut on her eyebrow, the cut that he had inflicted during their last "smack down". I had never, ever, seen my brother so gentle. The two moved closer to each other. My mind screamed, "No!" as their lips touched lightly. When they pulled back, they both looked absolutely stunned.   
"As soldiers, we know emotions make us weak." Cade whispered softly.  
They began to kiss again, and again my mind screamed. How could he trust her so easily, so soon?   
They pulled back.   
"Emotions cloud our judgment." Zack whispered.   
After the next kiss, they both were quiet. I had to turn my head as I lost my big brother, as he lost himself. I tried to tear myself away from my perch outside his window, but   
couldn't. So there I sat, frozen with shock mixed with fear. 

----------------------------------------------------------------

Tune in next time for...well, what happens next. I'll give you a clue: they all died. The End. 

I'm just kidding. Geesh. Don't throw things at me.

I'd like to give credit to my friend, Aaliyah (you all know her now as Cade), for helping me with this section. The last part of this section is her work. You'll also get another taste of her talent in the next section.

I also hope that you liked the parts with Krit and Syl. We thought they deserved a little more attention than they got in AJBAC. I hope they are as much fun to read as they are to write.

Also, I seem to be the only one not doing this disclaimer thing so let me give it a shot. Please allow me one minute of mad scientist talk.

They're all mine! Mwahahahahahaha!

Oh, alright. Maybe Max, Logan, Krit, and Syl aren't mine. But Zack! He's mine! Oh, okay! He's not mine either. And you can have Lydecker and Renfro. I don't want them. But Cade, she's...no, she's not. Cade belongs to herself. Ty. Ty is me, so she's mine. Oh, wait! That mad scientist laugh wasn't mine either! That belongs to Darien Fawkes, the Invisible Man. Frell! Wait. That's not mine either! That belongs to Farscape! Grrrr!

I have to go take a time-out now. Please tune in next time. Let me know what you think so far.

Gabrielle / Ty

P.S. Cade would like to say one thing, "smack down".


	9. Command Starfire

**Command Starfire**

"Twenty bucks." Krit called.

"You're on." Syl replied.

I casually strode over to the group.

"What's going on?" I asked.

"Oh, we're taking bets." Syl explained vaguely.

I pressed for more information.

"On?"

"On as to whether or not Zack and Cade got horizontal."

Scenes from the previous night flashed through my brain.

"Why would you have that thought?" I asked.

Krit smiled.

"Well, Cade went AWOL last night, pretty soon after you left. I called Zack to tell him and he said she was with him. We didn't see him or Cade until this morning. So I'm thinking that something had to have gone on. She's like a freakin' female Zack..."

Syl cut Krit off.

"No way. I mean, look at him. Still the same grumpy, pouty Zack. No way anything major happened."

"Good point." Krit joked, "She's hot."

Syl just shook her head and groaned. I had no idea where Cade was but I did know for a fact that Krit had lost. I debated on whether or not to tell them that, but decided against it. Let them have their fun. Plus, I didn't want them dragging the story out of me.

Krit and Syl continued bickering until Zack strode toward us. Zack's presence made everyone go silent.

"Okay, soldiers. We have conquered one problem, but we still face another: what do we do about Madame X." 

As Zack spoke, Cade came up behind him. She was wearing what I recognized as one of Zack's shirts. I saw Krit elbow Syl and give her a meaningful look. I felt a strong desire to laugh and had to use all of my self-control to suppress it. Zack glared at me.

"Something funny, soldier?"

I couldn't help smiling.

"No, sir."

"How is this really that hard of a decision?" Krit interrupted, "Just kill her."

"Do we really think that's the best idea?" a voice came booming from behind us.

It was Lydecker.

"You have a better idea?" Krit snapped defensively.

"I'm not saying it's a bad idea. Hell, I'll help. All I'm saying is, have we gotten enough information from her?" Lydecker explained.

"Well, you and Max have been interrogating her for the past 12 hours, how much more can you get out of her?" Zack glared, the distrust of years pouring through him.

Lydecker straightened.

"That woman has years of secrets. And she's much too cocky for someone being held captive by people with more than enough reason to kill her. You're getting careless, Zack. A good soldier would make sure he had every ounce of intel before disposing of the prisoner."

Zack was in no way intimidated by Lydecker.

"Don't tell me how to be a good soldier. I don't give a damn if you think I'm a good soldier. Let's get things straight. I give the orders around here." Zack said, glaring down at Lydecker in that way he had.

"I'm not trying to give orders. I just want you to remember what I taught you."

Zack got right in Lydecker's face.

"I don't trust you as far as I can throw you." Zack spat out.

"And I remember I taught you to throw pretty far." Lydecker countered.

I saw Zack's hand raise, but before the blow could be delivered, Cade, with cat-like reflexes caught his hand.

"Not that I am not enjoying this testosterone frenzy, but like it or not we need him." Cade interrupted.

Zack spun on Cade.

"Are you challenging me?" Zack snapped.

Cade did what I have never, ever, seen anyone in my life dare to do. She got in Zack's face and actually slapped him.

"You needed that." she informed him, "Now everyone just calm down, the point at hand is Renfro."

Zack and Lydecker both stood staring at her in something akin to awe.

"I like this chick." Krit declared quietly, smile creeping back onto his face.

I knew that if I did not in some way distract him, Zack would most likely take his anger out on Krit. So I decided to save Krit the black eye and step in.

"She's right. We need to focus." I said, stepping in front of Krit so the amused look on his face wouldn't annoy Zack further.

"He does have a point, Zack. The bitch is awfully cocky." Syl said.

Zack didn't look too thrilled with the idea of everyone questioning his orders, even though he hadn't really given any yet. Still, Syl's siding with Lydecker didn't help the situation although I agreed with her.

"The longer she lives the more of a risk we take. Manticore is going to want her back." Zack said angrily.

"Zack, we know that." Cade said in a surprisingly soothing voice.

"And you know she's got to have something up her sleeve." Krit agreed and gestured at Lydecker, "They always do."

Zack looked at each of us with an unreadable gaze for a long, silent moment.

"Alright. Get her in here." he finally gave the order.

I nodded and went to go get her along with Syl. Renfro was tied firmly to a chair. Neither of us felt like untying her so Syl pushed the chair back into the room. I walked slightly in front of her so I could keep a careful eye on the bleach-blonde bitch that was my creator.

I noticed that Zack had put himself between Cade and Renfro. It was obvious that he was trying to shield her from Renfro's influence, her presence. I felt a pang of jealousy. He couldn't be bothered to try and shield his own little sister who had been as much the bitch's little guinea pig as Cade had. Well, at least Cade didn't seem too happy about being protected in this more thoughtful than actually affective way.

"Ah, 599," Renfro taunted, "I was beginning to miss you. Both of you."

"You will speak when spoken to." Zack informed her.

"But Zack, I'm sure you have more questions." Renfro teased.

Zack reached into his jacket and pulled out a very deadly looking M-9 pistol (since when did Zack carry a gun?). He pointed it at Renfro.

"Well that's taking a big leap and saying we have more questions."

I glanced around at faces: Lydecker, Krit, Syl, and Cade. They all obviously had the same thought on their minds: would Zack pull the trigger?

"You wouldn't do that. I'm the only thing keeping Manticore soldiers from storming this place once they find you." she said in the same annoying, calm and cocky voice, but I could tell by the way her eyes darted about nervously that she wasn't feeling all that cocky at the moment.

"They won't find us." Zack said, cocking the gun.

Suddenly, Cade tried to push past Zack. He gave her a look, which she returned with one of her own and continued to push past him. Zack slowly lowered his gun and returned it to wherever he hid it inside his clothes.

"I just want to know one thing, why?" Cade said to Renfro.

Zack tried to push her back behind him, but Cade was having none of it.

"No. No, Zack. I have to know why. Why?" there was a great pain in her voice.

I could understand it.

"Why?" Renfro repeated, "Because I wanted soldiers that were not only capable of what the X-series were, but were also devoted to me. It was all part of my insurance policy." 

Cade looked as let down as I felt. Was that the only reason for our existence? At least, the X-series had been part of some vision, however twisted. All we were was some paranoid bitch's insurance.

"If it's any consolation, you SP's were faulty." Renfro continued, "You were supposed to be devoid of emotion. That emotion is probably what they used to turn you. I thought you were stronger than that, 452/493."

"And that makes you a great humanitarian." I snapped, "Shut up, just shut up!"

"Emotion!" Cade shouted at her, oblivious to anything else, "Emotion? Is that what you're afraid of? Well, then be afraid."

With that she pulled Zack to her and kissed him, a deep, feeling kiss, to prove her point.

"Do I get my twenty bucks now?" Krit asked.   
Syl gave him a look that said he was impossible and also threatened pain if he said another word.   
"Just asking." Krit said as he ducked Syl's swing at his head.   
Cade pulled out of the kiss and glared at Renfro.

"And my name is Cade." she added angrily.

Renfro didn't have anything to say to that.

"Tell us about this insurance policy." Zack commanded of Renfro, taking over control of this interrogation again.   
I noticed that he didn't move to put any space between Cade and Renfro again. In fact, he still looked a little dazed.   
Renfro laughed suddenly, that damn cocky look right back on her face, and shouted, "SP-452/493, execute Command: Starfire."   
Cade straightened up with a robot- like jerk. Zack gave her a confused look.   
"Command: Starfire," Cade repeated in a monotone voice.   
What the heck had Renfro done? Zack vocalized my confusion.   
"What did you do?" He demanded.   
"After you and the other X5's escaped, then that SP, we decided we need a little more insurance. So we began implanting subliminal messages like this one. Funny thing is, your 'Cade' has no idea what she is about to do. Question is Zack can you kill her before she kills you?"   
With that she gave a little wink. She sure looked mighty pleased with her self.   
Damn, I hated that bitch.   
Cade threw hard punches at Zack, which he blocked, barely. Zack was hesitant which was probably going to get him killed. I couldn't help feeling like this was somehow my fault for giving him my blessings, as it were, and telling him it was okay that he was attracted to her. It seemed like such a long time ago that we had had that conversation.   
Cade kicked out. Zack caught her leg and used it to throw her to the ground. 

"How do you override the command?" Zack asked through gritted teeth.   
"That's taking a big leap and implying there is a override command." Renfro teased, "What a dramatic irony."   
Krit had had enough of this. He pulled a knife out of his boot and was swiftly at Renfro's side pressing it at her throat.  
"Tell him." he demanded.   
I saw Renfro momentarily falter, but then she just laughed again.   
I really hated that laugh.   
"Killing me won't do you any good." she declared.   
"It will make me feel a whole lot better." Syl stated   
"Only my voice can override the command," Renfro continued, " Now let me go and maybe we can make a deal."   
I looked at Zack, asking him silently what to do.   
Zack was a little busy at that moment, though. Cade was now regrouping. The both of them were breathing hard. Fear filled my veins; could Zack win? Cade had been a tough opponent and now being devoid of personality and fighting all out, Zack was in trouble.   
"Fine," I shouted, "We bargain, but try anything funny and you will wish we had killed you."   
Cade attacked again with a roundhouse kick, which caused Zack to loose ground. She prepared to continue with a series of punches, but Zack leapt over her in a front flip.   
"We take you to Manticore, you override the command." I continued, "Sound fair enough?"   
"It'll due." Renfro agreed. "SP-452/493 halt."   
Cade immediately came to attention. Zack panted heavily and backed away towards Syl. He I watched with concern as he slowly dropped to his knees. Syl squatted next to him.  
"SP- 452/493, Command: 53201." Renfro shouted.

Cade dropped to the ground, unconscious.   
"What did you do?" Zack managed, as he continued panting heavily, on his knees.   
"Don't worry she's fine, and she is 'Cade' again. This command will cause 452/493 to 'hold' if you will for one hour. If I am not at Manticore and I don't override the command, she will kill Zack, and each and everyone of you in turn." Renfro explained.   
I glanced at Zack who was clearly in no condition to run this mission. If a gave him about ten minutes he'd probably be fine, but we didn't have ten minutes to waste.   
It would have to be me.   
"Krit, you restrain Cade. Syl, Lydecker, get Renfro in the van and blindfold her."   
"Yes, sir." Krit and Syl answered in unison, then all three went about their task.  
I went to assess my brother's condition.   
"How are you feeling big brother?" I asked, Zack had a cut on his lip, a gash on his arm, and a black eye.   
And those were just the new injuries.

"Like hell," he replied, he tried to get up from where he sat.   
"No, you stay here.: I told him.   
"Renfro..." he started.   
"Stay here. That is an order." I gave him a stern look.   
"Since when do you give orders?" he asked, slightly amused.   
"Since now."   
It was my turn to be C.O. I just hoped I was up to the challenge. 

----------------------------------------------------------------

I hope someone's still reading this. Sorry, for the delay for anyone who is. I was on a short vacation (well, if you call a trip where you have to work a vacation).

And some of you might be wondering, "Hey, what the heck happened to Max and Logan? Did they fall down a big hole or something?" In answer to that question, you have to keep reading to find out, so haha. Yes, I know I'm evil.

Ty (or Gabrielle. Whatever)

P.S. Cade would just like you all to know that she would be the perfect torture victim, contrary to what you might believe after reading this fic. The reason being, she can't even say the abbreviated version of her barcode, much less give her captors any other information. She sit there stuttering out numbers until they got mad and threw her out the door.

  



	10. Commanding Officer

****

Commanding Officer

We were psyching up for battle. Not like the last time my brother, Max, Syl and Krit had or even the last time I had gone by myself, but close. Yet again we were going back to Manticore. But this time, instead of trying to destroy it, we were giving it back what was probably the only thing holding it together: Renfro.

I imagined that infernal smug look on her face and the sound of her laughter when we put her back in her secure little compound with all her guinea pigs.

I decided that if I had to listen to that laugh one more time I would tear her larynx out.

I glanced once more around the base. Cade had been returned to her former handcuffed position. Zack sat at her feet, waiting for her to regain consciousness and redressing his wounds at the same time. I met his gaze briefly before I closed the door of the van. His eyes had conveyed a silent message of confidence to me. I hope I could live up to that silent message.

I turned back to Krit and Syl. Krit flashed me a grin.

"So, what's your secret?" he asked.

I just gave him a confused look. What was he talking about?

"How the heck did you get a promotion so fast? Next time Zack gets his ass kicked, I wanna be C.O." he said.

I smiled. Krit was very skilled at breaking the tension of a mission. At least, when he wanted to be. 

"The day you're C.O. is the day I loose all faith in the world." Syl replied.

"Syl, my darling sister, I'm hurt." Krit said, but couldn't keep the mischievous grin off his face.

Syl didn't respond and we lapsed into silence. I mentally thanked whichever one of them had retrieved this van. We didn't have time to waste stealing another vehicle.

"Don't you think we should have called Max?" Syl asked slowly, breaking our silence.

"No!" Krit and I both said with enough conviction to cause Lydecker to glance back at us from his position in the driver's seat. 

"Why not?" Syl asked.

"I'm not gonna risk loosing her again." Krit stated firmly.

"And I can't risk her coming along." I said evasively.

I couldn't tell them that I didn't completely trust Max on this mission. Zack had said she was reckless. How could I be sure she wouldn't get us all killed by doing something stupid like trying to reason with Brin? She wouldn't obey Zack's orders, she would never obey mine. I wasn't secure enough in my command position to take on Max.

"She's gonna be mad." Syl commented and then dropped the subject.

Krit and Syl didn't try to drag an explanation out of me like I expected. I was glad for that. Instead they kept up a rather steady conversation about trivial things like whether or not Zack knew how to dance. Apparently making fun of Zack was one of their favorite past-times.

"Come on, Syl. Think about it. Can you really picture Zack getting down to...oh, I don't know...Britney Spears? It's about as likely as him and Logan hooking up." Krit said.

Syl batted her eyes innocently.

"So, that's impossible, right?" 

"Yes." Krit said disgustedly, "Ew."

"Hey, you said it." Syl retorted.

If I hadn't known where we were headed, I would have laughed. I wish I could have laughed.

I was worried about Zack. I had not liked the idea of leaving him alone with the person who was inadvertently trying to kill him at all. I liked the idea of returning to Manticore for a second time in less than a week even less. My search and rescue had been risky enough. But this was for Zack and I couldn't refuse him anything. I just hoped Renfro would keep up her end of the bargain. If she didn't...nothing would stop me from killing her.

I glanced at our captive again and felt my jaw tighten with the hate I felt. She sat in the very back of the van and was gagged and blindfolded. Syl had done us all a favor by adding that gag.

And suddenly Lydecker was stopping the van. I must have zoned out because it seemed like we had only been driving for a few minutes. I mentally slapped myself, ordering myself to be more alert.

Krit, Syl, and I exchanged glances before I reached out and slid open the door of the van.

Time to move out.

***

This is Cade. I am telling this part of the story because I don't trust Ty to tell it. She wasn't there, she wouldn't understand. Hell, I barely understood all the emotions that were going through me at the time.

I first remember waking up to the feeling of a tremendous headache. I hated headaches. I forced the feeling of pain to the back of my mind and concentrated on my surroundings. I couldn't remember what had happened or where I was or even why I was there. I sensed a presence closed to mine and slowly opened my eyes. I almost smiled. It was Zack.

"Hey." I managed.

I smirked as he started at the sound of my voice. It was always fun to catch someone off guard. Especially someone like Zack.

"Hey." Zack replied, turning to me.

I wanted to hug him. A very un-soldier-like impulse, but it was an overwhelming one. I moved to act out the impulse and found I was handcuffed.

"What the hell is going on?" I asked angrily.

Who's idea had this been? I thought they trusted me! And yet, here I was again, back in the handcuffs.

"You don't remember. She said you wouldn't." Zack said.

My mind perked at his words. What had happened? Whatever it had been, it was something major.

"What happened?" I asked.

"Do you know what Command: Starfire is?" Zack asked.

"No. What is it?"

"Something that Renfro activated. I made you try to kill me."

This was a very bad joke. I would never...how could I? Why couldn't I remember anything from when I had kissed Zack in front of Renfro?

"How?" I demanded.

"Subliminal messages, Cade. She activated another one before she left. In one hour you'll try to kill me again if it's not deactivated." Zack admitted, although I could see he didn't want to.

"Well, deactivate it!"

"It's not that easy. Ty's trying to straighten things out."

I could tell from the set of his jaw that he was firmly set against telling me anymore. I hated being kept in the dark, but what could I do? I wasn't exactly in the position to make demands. Although it was nice to be alone with Zack again. Even if I was handcuffed. In light of the situation, that was probably a good thing. I don't know what I would have done if I had woken up to find I had killed Zack without even knowing it.

If I was such a risk to Zack, why in hell had they left him with me? How stupid could the X-5's be? No, wait. I couldn't blame them. From what Zack had said, Ty was heading this mission.

"Who's brilliant idea was it to leave the assassin with the target?" I asked.

Zack winced slightly, but after a second the expression was gone.

"It couldn't be helped. I was in no condition to lead the mission. And someone needed to stay with you."

"Zack, what if they can't deactivate that command?" I asked.

"I trust Ty." Zack replied, "She can do this."

Funny how I wasn't feeling his confidence in SP-599, in Ty. It was hard to think of her as Ty and not as her barcode. It was hard to think of myself as someone other than SP-452/493.

"But what if I hurt you? What if I kill you?"

Zack smirked at me.

"You weren't able to best me the last couple times."

I glared at him. As much as he had been my salvation and everything, I still didn't like losing. I liked being reminded of it even less.

"I could still kick your ass." I replied evenly.

Zack didn't reply. He just looked at me. I wondered what he say when he looked at me. Suck it up, soldier. This was not the time for emotional crap.

And suddenly my own advice didn't even matter because Zack was leaning in close to me and planting a kiss on my lips. I almost felt like purring.

I suddenly found myself wondering, if emotions make us weak, then why were they so strong in me at that moment? I could fight torture, pain, drugs, and psychological beatings yet I couldn't seem to fight the feeling that was coming over me. It was a warm, comforting feeling. A feeling of being wanted not because of how well I could aim a weapon or how fast I could run or how long I could hold my breath, but because I was me. Just a person, or at least something close to being a person. It was a feeling that suggested an even better feeling if I was in Zack's arms, held close. A suddenly wanted that second feeling more than anything I had ever wanted before.

What had come over me? I was suppose to be the unfeeling, hard-ass bitch; sub-zero temperatures. Isn't that what the patrol guards at Manticore called me when they didn't think I could hear them? Then why, ever since Zack had pinned me to the ground and made me admit that I didn't want to die, did I feel like I was just now beginning to live? And why, ever since I followed him to his apartment- fully intending to kick his ass ( just to even the score) and use him as my hostage to free Madame X and retreat to Manticore, even though I had known even then that I couldn't bring myself to kill him or turn him in- did I feel like I couldn't leave Zack behind? When did I start feeling warm inside every time I saw him? Oh, I knew when. Every since we kissed at his apartment and I ended up falling asleep curled up next to him on his couch, my head on his shoulder. Who would have thought that ratty, old couch could have been so comfortable? Was it even possible for someone to mean so much to someone else this suddenly?

"What was that for?" I forced suspicion into my voice.

I really didn't care. Although it would be useful for future reference so that I could get him to do it again.

"Advance apology for when I wipe the floor with you." Zack said simply.

I lunged at him, playfully, of course, feigning an attack. Of course, the handcuffs restrained me from doing much. Damn handcuffs.

"Bring it on, Zackie." I challenged.

Suddenly, Zack was right in my face and he didn't look too pleased.

"Never call me Zackie." he said in a voice that was completely serious.

Okay, so he didn't like that name. Got it. No more Zackie.

Zack pulled away slightly. His arms snapped towards me and I expected an attack. I was wrong. He was undoing my handcuffs.

"How long do I got?" I asked, rubbing my wrists.

"42 minutes." Zack said, confirming my suspicions.

He had been keeping track of the time, after all.

I gave him a once over. Besides the black eye he had split his lip and reopened the gash left in his arm when a bullet had grazed him. The wounds were neatly bandaged, but they were also newly bandaged and I knew I was the cause of the damage.

I remembered the first time I had really studied him, only the day before. I had been trained to seek out any and all weaknesses. Zack's pride had been the obvious one. His feelings for Max, much less so. But I had seen them there. And it had made me need to follow him that night, made me tell him thank you, just so I could know that his feelings for me were stronger.

But why did I care?

Because he was Zack.

His blonde hair hung in his eyes. I reached up slowly and brushed the renegade lock to the side. I tried to find a word that would describe Zack as he looked into my eyes. It was hard. He was so complex. I mentally searched all the words and meanings I knew. I came to one, it was a word I had only heard once and was not really something you heard in Manticore. I could only really abstractly comprehend the word, but I knew it described Zack somehow. Beautiful.

***

"It feels wrong to be on a mission without Max and Zack." Syl said quietly.

I glanced at her where she stood next to the van. She looked a little worried, but still determined. She'd be okay.

I motioned to her for silence.

Krit pulled Renfro out of the van and we were away from it like a bullet out of a gun. We all wanted this mission over with as soon as possible. We all jumped the fence with barely a moment's hesitation.

We hadn't had time to change into anything appropriate for a mission like army fatigues, but all of us were wearing dark clothing anyway. We blended into the night almost perfectly. It was child's play to avoid the searchlights coming from the compound. Just as it had been child's play the last time I had snuck in. It seemed that Manticore security wasn't what it used to be.

I signaled for Krit and Syl to fan out behind me. If we were going to be set up I didn't want them to be able to take us all down at once. Krit disappeared to my left with Renfro. Syl faded into the shadows on my right. I took the center.

I heard shots coming from the other end of the compound. Someone was on the shooting range. I hoped it was the X-7's. The shooting range was the furthest possible point from our position. I also hoped that no one had decided to recall any other X-series contingents back to Manticore. I sure seemed to do a lot of hoping these days.

I stopped just short of the compound, looking for patrol guards. I cocked my head and increased my hearing. I allowed myself a small, sardonic smile at what I heard. The patrol guards were still getting chewed out routinely for the last break in their security. The chorus of 'yes, sir!' and 'no, sir!' implied that this had been going on for some time.

I motioned to Krit and Syl again, giving them the go ahead. I hung back for a second and tapped the earpiece I was wearing.

"Base, come back." I whispered.

"Loud and clear." Lydecker's voice came back to me.

"Base, time?" I said quiet enough that no one could overhear.

"You have 12 minutes." Lydecker came back.

We had made extremely good time getting here. I wondered suddenly exactly how fast Lydecker had been driving. Not important. Stick to the mission. We had no time to waste.

"Copy that. Out."

***

I remained on my knees, as did Zack. Rather funny considering we were both soldiers.

Soldiers...there was that word again. The word that seemed to sum up my life and that my life revolved around at the same time. I was a soldier. We don't have the feelings, the emotions, that I was feeling. 

I looked down, breaking the gaze that Zack and I had been sharing. I shook my head, hoping that would clear it.

"So...you really trust Ty for this mission?" I asked quickly, trying to force my brain to change its focus.

"She is my sister." Zack replied.

He was sizing me up. I could feel it.

"That doesn't answer my question." I pressed.

"Cade, what's wrong?" Zack asked, catching me completely off guard.

"What?" the word seemed to tumble out of my mouth.

"What's wrong?" he repeated.

He leaned towards me and I instinctively scooted backwards, away from him. He gave me a puzzled, confused look.

"I...I...no." I stood quickly and backed away a few steps.

This was wrong. Wrong. Completely against my training.

"We can't. No. I won't." I continued.

Zack stood.

"I am a soldier. A soldier. We don't have emotions. Emotions make us weak. Being weak makes us useless." I repeated the familiar words and found them to be comforting.

"Cade..." Zack started.

"Emotions are useless." I cut him off.

I don't know why I said it. I just did. I was confused.

Anger spread across Zack's features.

"Is that you or Manticore talking?" he asked in his C.O. voice.

I couldn't find the words to respond. I was so confused. It felt like my head was going to explode. I would never escape Manticore. It would always be with me, in my head. Just like this Command: Starfire. I had almost killed Zack. Zack, who I...who I what? What was he to me? 

I sunk back to the floor. Zack remained standing over me.

"SP-452/493." he said.

I nearly snapped to attention, I was so surprised to hear him say that. I stared at him as he slowly sat on the floor in front of me.

"It's who you are. I know that. I also know it's hard. Manticore will always be a part of you, but now you are Cade, as well. It's not that you're becoming a new person, you're just adding to the old one." Zack said.

It sounded so simple, but it had a ring of truth to it.

I felt tears well up in my eyes and stream down my cheeks. Soldiers don't cry so I wasn't crying. I must have gotten some dust in my eye or something, but I wasn't crying.

What was I supposed to say to Zack? This freedom thing sure was damn confusing. And Zack...

"Are you crying?" Zack asked softly.

Damn him for being observant.

"No." I replied, my voice sounding pitiful to my own ears.

"Liar." Zack replied.

"Zack..." I started, but cut off quickly.

Could I tell him what I wanted to say? Could I even form those words?

"What?" he asked softly.

"Can I ask you something?" 

"Of course."

"What is love?"

----------------------------------------------------------------------

Sorry about the sudden changes there. I hope they are relatively easy to follow. 

I hope you guys that are reading this didn't get tripped up by my taking out the separate sections and putting them into one story as chapters. Apparently I was breaking some rules so it had to be done.

Once again, thank you Cade for all the work you did helping on this section. 

And readers, thank you for reading. And if you happen to review, too, I'll love you forever and ever! Please, please, please review.

And if you want to, check out our new website based on this fan fiction. Its called Special Project and it's at www.specialproject599.homestead.com. It's still under heavy construction, but the story's up and there's some galleries that we will be updating very soon. Thanks.

Ty


	11. Drop-Off Point

****

Drop-off Point

Zack stared at me like he couldn't believe what he had just heard. Not that surprising. I couldn't believe I had said it.

"What did you say?" Zack managed after a very, very long pause.

I just shook my head, not sure that I could repeat myself, not wanting to anyway. He had heard me, he knew what I meant.

"Are you saying what I think you're saying?" Zack asked suspiciously.

I sighed. God, he could be annoying.

"You got a response or not?"

Zack looked down at the ground and it suddenly occurred to me that he couldn't respond. He didn't know how. The pained expression on his face was enough to make me change the subject for him.

"Zack, you can't let me hurt you." I said suddenly.

He almost smiled in gratitude before coming back with another sarcastic remark. Was sarcasm in the genes, too?

"I really wasn't planning on it."

"I'm serious. You'll pull your punches because you don't want to hurt me. But I won't be doing that. And I will hurt you. I don't want to do that. You can't let me execute that command, Zack." I insisted.

He knew I was right. He had to. The look on his face said as much. But knowing I was right and agreeing to do as I said were two different things entirely.

"Zack..." I began again, determined to make him see my point and agree with me.

If he couldn't talk to me about love then he damn well was going to listen to me about this. 

"Cade." he cut me off, "Just don't think. Ty can do this. It's a simple mission for her. A ransom assignment; enter enemy territory, drop off the exchange, get out. Plus, she has two X-5's guarding her back."

He took a deep breath and looked at me in that strange way again.

"It's...it's not often that I let myself forget that I'm the commanding officer. But just this once...I want to. I just want to be here. With you." Zack said.

From the way he said it, the words seemed to be strange ones to him. He'd never let his guard down before. He'd never let himself have a moment completely free from his duties to the other X-5's. Yet he was willing to do something like that for me. I couldn't tell him no. I couldn't snap at him and send more sarcastic remarks in his direction. I couldn't make that cold, hard look come back on his face. This was all that I had been looking for in a response, all that I had needed.

So, I nodded. And Zack smiled. A real, all-out smile. God, he should do that more often! Either that, or file it away in the secret weapon section. I had never thought a smile could be powerful, but I was so obviously wrong now.

I couldn't live with myself if I executed that command.

"Zack. Just tell me, how much time do we have left?" I asked gently, not wanting to break the moment.

I had anyway. The smile was gone now.

"11 minutes." Zack said.

So little time. I didn't share Zack's confidence in Ty, I couldn't sit here and wait for her, knowing that if she failed I would kill Zack. I couldn't do that. But how could I stop myself? I didn't even know what I was doing when the command went into affect.

"Zack." I said suddenly, realizing my answer, "Before time runs out, I need you to do me a favor."

I could tell he didn't like the grim look on my face, the sound in my voice.

"What?" he asked cautiously.

"Zack, I need you to kill me."

"What?! No!" Zack cried.

"Please, Zack. Promise me you will kill me before I kill you. I couldn't live with the fact that I killed you." I insisted.

"And you think I could live with the fact that I killed you?" Zack demanded angrily, jumping to his feet.

I could only look at him pleadingly.

"No!" Zack hissed harshly, "I will never promise you that."

I felt my eyes start to well up again. Some soldier I was turning out to be in the face of all these emotions.

Zack, of course, saw this and sat down on the floor again. He slowly, almost hesitantly reached out his arms to me and I immediately fell into that hug, slipping my arms around his back inside his leather jacket, resting my head against his chest.

"Neither of us is going to die here because of that bitch." Zack whispered with conviction, "I will not allow it to happen."

I could only keep thinking of all the ways that he would have to allow it to happen if he wouldn't kill me. And all I could do was cry harder, feeling my whole body shake with the force of it.

Zack felt it, too.

"Shhh. It's okay." he whispered even softer, his voice surprisingly gentle, "Everything will be okay, Cade."

I slowly stopped crying, but I didn't move from Zack's arms. Why would I? The comfort I was feeling was something they didn't teach at Manticore and yet I felt like I couldn't have survived this without it.

"Go to hell, Manticore." I breathed, feeling firmly separated from it for the first time.

***

I ordered a halt in the cover of the trees. I pulled the gag and the blindfold off of Renfro, bracing myself to hear her annoying voice again.

"Base, connect to Zack. Copy that, base?" I said.

"Copy that." Lydecker replied.

I waited. There was a soft click that alerted me to a change.

"Zack?" I asked.

"I read you, Ty." Zack replied.

"Get Cade on the line." I said.

I didn't wait for a reply, but pulled off my earpiece and shoved it in Renfro's face.

"Deactivate the command." I growled at her.

"What guarantee do I have that you won't kill me once I give it?" Renfro replied.

I felt my jaw clench and my hands curl into fists.

"We don't have time for this." Syl pressed.

"You have my word." I spat, feeling disgusted that I was saying such a thing to Renfro.

She had to know I would never go back on my word. Still, she wasn't talking.

Krit had the knife at her throat again.

"Deactivate it!" he said angrily.

Slowly, she spoke, "SP-452/493, deactivate Command: Starfire."

I yanked the earpiece back up to my ear.

"Deactivate." I heard Cade's voice in the same dull tone she had used when the command had been activated.

I sighed with relief.

"Let's get out of here." I said.

Krit shoved Renfro away and we all turned and headed towards the perimeter. We hadn't gotten 30 feet when we ran into trouble.

"Halt! Surrender and you won't be shot!"

It was Brin. And a contingent of soldiers.

"X5-734, send one of your men to mobilize the X-7's!" Renfro shouted from behind us.

I could see Krit was going to send his knife flying to embed itself somewhere in Renfro. I stopped him, but not before twenty guns were cocked and ready to fire on us. I wouldn't go back on my word.

I watched carefully as Brin sent a soldier running back to the compound. Damn it!

Slowly, I raised my hands over my head. I could feel everyone's eyes move to me with that movement.

"Evasive, now!" I yelled and flew at Brin.

Krit and Syl both reacted instantly. The slow reflexes of the normal soldiers kicked in a moment later and shots started being fired. I could only hope a stray bullet would find its way to Renfro.

Brin wasn't as caught off guard by my move as I could have hoped. She side-stepped my lunge and moved to smash the hilt of her assault rifle into my back. I spun and caught the weapon, tearing it from her hands and tossing it aside as far as I could throw. I wouldn't kill Brin.

Brin was fast, but not as fast as I could be. I could take her, I knew it.

I blocked almost all of Brin's attacks. She did score on me, but not as much as I scored on her.

Brin backed off suddenly. My eyes snapped back and forth, quickly taking in the scene. We were surrounded by the soldiers that were still standing. Krit and Syl had done their best to disable and disarm, which was a good thing. I felt pressure against my back as the two X5's moved to join me in the center of the ring of soldiers.

"Escape and evade." I said.

"I hate guns." Syl commented as some of the soldiers began to find weapons.

"Me, too." Krit replied, promptly pulling out a gun and firing.

Syl and I both dropped. Krit managed to take out the few soldiers that had already recovered weapons. As soon as Krit stopped firing, Syl and I sprang back into action.

"I didn't know you were packing." Syl said as she fought, as if this was a casual sparring session now that all the fighting was hand-to-hand.

"Bad habit, what can I say?" Krit answered in the same attitude.

"But guns are so impersonal." Syl said as she kicked a soldier in the temple, "Nothing says 'I hate you and I'm going to destroy you' like explosives."

"I'll keep that in mind next time I argue with you." Krit agreed.

A strange noise came out of Krit as he delivered a final blow to his opponent. Syl and I both looked at him strangely after knocking our own opponents unconscious.

"What was that?" I asked.

"A very manly battle-squeak. Can we get on with this, please?" Krit said quickly.

I looked around. Brin and Renfro had disappeared. Everyone else was lying around either too injured to move, unconscious or dead.

"Very manly." Syl agreed as we headed quickly away from the scene of the fight.

"Very, very manly." I seconded.

Krit just rolled his eyes and gave us an exasperated look. Despite our attitudes, we were running hard for the perimeter fence. We knew better than to wait around for the X-7's.

"I wish we could've gotten Brin out." Syl said quietly as the fence drew nearer.

"Another day, sis." Krit said, serious for once.

I think all of our hearts leapt when we saw the perimeter fence was clear of any X-7's. We jumped the fence again and I felt like a weight was being lifted from my shoulders. I had accomplished my mission without any harm to my troops. Thank God. If he really exists.

***

I had been out of it for a second and I couldn't remember what the hell had happened. That scared me. I looked up at Zack and the smile spreading across his face reassured me. It was over. Ty had done! I owed Ty one. I actually even liked her for the time being. She had come through, after all.

Zack's arms tightened around me and I returned the pressure, feeling a smile come onto my own face. And then I was pulling pack so I could look at Zack again and he was leaning in to kiss me. It was a deep, sweet kiss that left me staring at Zack, wide-eyed, when he pulled away. Zack laughed at the expression on my face and I shoved him, playfully.

"Don't you dare say 'I told you so'." I warned, but ruining what was supposed to be a mock-threatening gesture with the smile that was still on my face.

"Wouldn't dream of it." Zack replied.

His hand touched my face and I rubbed my cheek against his palm, liking the way it felt, feeling almost like a kitten. I heard Zack exhale sharply and glanced up at him.

"Zack!"

Both of us must have jumped two feet straight up. X5-452, Max, was back.

Zack was almost instantly back on his feet, a good six feet between us. Max was staring from him to me and back again with an astonished look on her face. The man I'd heard called Logan was behind her, a grin on his face.

"Where have you been?" Zack demanded quickly.

Now Max looked away, blushing.

"Out." she said vaguely.

Zack frowned. I noted with slight interest that Max had Logan's scent all over her. Almost as if they had...well, that would explain why she had been gone for so long.

"Where is everyone?" Logan asked, breaking the almost visible tension in the room.

"Ty led a mission to Manticore." Zack said, almost as vague as Max had been.

"What?!" Logan and Max both demanded.

I smiled at that. They had missed quite a bit while they were away, preoccupied with other things.

"Renfro activated a subliminal message that made me try to kill Zack. Ty took her back to Manticore in exchange for her deactivating that command. Krit, Syl, and Lydecker went with her." I explained, knowing Zack wasn't one for detailed explanations.

"I can't leave you guys alone for five minutes!" Max quipped.

"It was a bit more than five minutes, Max." Zack replied, glaring past her at Logan.

Max blushed again. I think, Logan might even have been blushing. 

"Just a joke, Zack." Max muttered.

There was silence again. It was so thick you could cut it with a knife.

"So." I said finally.

"Yeah." Logan agreed.

"Uh huh." Max supplied.

Zack just grunted, practically radiating disapproval towards Max and Logan. We lapsed back into an even more uncomfortable silence.

"Well, this is fun." Logan said sarcastically, a trace grin on his face.

Zack rolled his eyes and turned his back on Max and Logan and headed outside. I followed him.

"I can't believe she did that!" Zack growled.

"It's none of our business." I said.

I was starting to feel betrayed. A few minutes ago he had just wanted to be in this place, with me. Now all he seemed to care about was what Max and Logan had done.

"What does she possibly see in him? You don't see anything in him do you?" Zack continued angrily.

I doubted he really expected me to answer that.

"I told her time and again that he was going to get her killed. She's tied to this place, to him. She'll never leave now." Zack fumed.

"Why do you care?" I said, some of the anger I was starting to feel towards him coming through in my voice despite my efforts.

"She's Max. Of course, I care. I will always care about Max." Zack said absently without even looking at me.

For all his talk about how he would never kill me, that's exactly what he was doing now.

I was starting to feel a lot of things now and none of them were pleasant. I was starting to want to kill Zack. Or kill Max. But I knew I wouldn't. Maybe I would just beat Zack into a bloody pulp. That sounded like a good idea.

"I can never be Max." I said, not even realizing I had said it out loud until Zack whipped around to stare at me.

Emotions seemed to war on Zack's face until he finally settled into a sad, apologetic expression.

"Cade, I didn't mean..." he began.

"Just shut up, Zack." I snapped.

I turned away from him, not able to bear looking at him anymore. I heard his footsteps moving towards me and I quickly stomped away from him. His motorcycle was nearby, I could steal it and take off. He deserved to have his motorcycle stolen. 

"Cade, don't go." he said quietly.

"Leave me alone, Zack. I don't want to talk to you anymore." I said coldly.

"Don't leave me. That's an order."

I whirled around to stare at him.

"After what you just said do you really think your orders mean a damn thing to me?"

"Cade, please." he said softly.

He looked up at me and I made the mistake of looking into his eyes. His blue eyes looked so hurt, so sad. They were pleading with me. Damn him, I couldn't leave him now. Another one of those damn secret weapons of his.

"What?" I asked finally.

"I used to feel things for Max. I admit that. But I...I love you now."

That wasn't fair. He couldn't just throw that out and think that he could use it to keep me with him. How could I know he really meant that? How could I know that he still didn't love Max?

"You can't..." I began.

I stopped abruptly when I heard the sound of a car approaching quickly. I jerked my head to the side to see the van pull up. Ty, Krit, Syl and Lydecker were back.

***

I was in such a good mood as we drove back to base that I actually participated in Krit and Syl's pointless conversations.

"Ten bucks says Cade and Zack leave Seattle together." Krit said.

"What is it with you and gambling?" Syl replied. With a straight face and serious tone she continued, "Krit. You have a problem."

"Yeah, my problem is I haven't had a job in like a month and I have zero cash flow. Now is it a bet or not?" Krit asked.

"You think she's going to take your bet now that she knows you can't pay up?" I asked.

Krit stuck his tongue out at me.

"No more Zack and Cade bets." Syl declared, "I bet...I bet that Ty could beat you on a motorcycle."

I shot a look at Syl. She grinned mischievously.

"You're not willing to race me, Syl?" Krit prodded.

"No challenge. I already know I can beat you. I bet Ty can, too." Syl replied.

"You are pretty tall. That would mean more air resistance. She's probably right." I agreed, getting into this bet.

Yet another excuse for me to "borrow" Zack's motorcycle.

"Oh, you are so on." Krit said, unable to back down from the challenge.

As we approached base, I moved to look out the windows, scanning to see if Zack's motorcycle was there. We could track down Max's and then we could race. I was actually looking forward to it.

Zack and Cade stood outside the building near Zack's motorcycle. Cade didn't look too happy at all. And Zack...well, Zack almost looked like he was trying to apologize. Maybe I was imagining things.

Lydecker stopped the van and we got out. None of us ever spoke a word to Lydecker. I think we were all more comfortable pretending he didn't exist. If we acknowledged his presence, then we'd be tempted to get rid of it. And that would mean having to try and think of reasons not to. And that would take just too much effort.

Cade was staring at us. I couldn't tell if she was angry at us for interrupting whatever conversation she had been having with Zack or thankful for the same reasons. Maybe both.

Zack slowly turned to me, his eyes reluctant to leave Cade. He allowed me to give him a hug and even managed to find a small smile for me.

"Good work, Ty." he said.

I nodded thankfully.

"Zack, would you mind if we borrowed your motorcycle?"

"Go ahead."

Something must be wrong. That was way too easy.

"Is everything alright?" I asked, looking from him to Cade and back.

"Fine." he said shortly, his tone indicating that any further questions were more than unwelcome.

I gave a small shrug and went to retrieve the motorcycle. It was obvious that we were all giving Zack and Cade a wide berth. The air practically vibrated with tension. Even Krit and Syl looked uncomfortable.

And that's when Max and Logan made an appearance. I hadn't noticed that Logan's car was here. I began to wonder where they had been, but the smells coming from them made that all too obvious. Sometimes it can be a little embarrassing to have enhanced senses.

Now everyone was outside, staring at Zack and Cade, but pretending not to. I gripped the handlebars of the motorcycle and moved to wheel it away.

"No!" Cade said suddenly, making me freeze.

"No one leaves! Everyone's here now. If you meant what you said, Zack, you'll say it now in front of them. In front of her." Cade said.

What the hell had Zack said?

"Don't do this, Cade." Zack said.

"If you meant it, you'll prove it." she insisted.

We were all pretty confused, but it didn't matter to Zack or Cade. If they're conversation didn't concern our presence I would say they weren't even aware we were there.

"Prove it." Cade repeated, softer, almost as if she was pleading with him to do so.

Zack slowly stepped closer to her. They were very close together when he stopped and looked down at her. She, in turn, stared up at him, waiting for his next move. The rest of us were still frozen where we stood. I felt like I shouldn't be watching this, but I couldn't turn away.

Zack cradled her face with his hands and slowly leaned down to kiss her. We all found something remarkably interesting to study somewhere, anywhere, else. I found a particularly interesting patch of ground near my feet. That kiss had been very passionate and full of emotion and it felt wrong to be here while they were doing that.

When I looked up again, they had separated but were staring at each other in ways that I didn't want to interpret. Cade leaned closer to Zack again, wrapping her arms around his neck.

"I believe you." she whispered softly and reinitiated the kiss.

I could sense movement and knew that the others were all slowly edging away. I decided that they were right, this would be the time to make an exit, and slowly wheeled the motorcycle backwards. After all, I still had a bet to win. Even if I was starting to think that Krit would win that twenty from Syl in regards to Cade and Zack before we left Seattle.

----------------------------------------------------------

I think there is only going to be one more section of this. But that's okay. It was fun while it lasted! And the Director's Cut was way too much fun. If you haven't read it, you should go check it out. Be warned that it's pretty naughty, though. We were in a really strange mood when we wrote it, okay. Anyway, I hope that you enjoyed this so far and that you will give me lots of reviews. I always enjoy reading what you guys think of this so go for it!

Ty


	12. Crash

****

Crash

I glanced back over my shoulder to see how far behind me Krit was. I grinned, knowing no one could see it since I was wearing Zack's helmet.

Krit shifted gears and quickly drew even with me. I pushed harder, drawing slightly ahead of him again. I cut him off, hearing him swerve sharply to come up on my other side.

"Dirty trick, Ty!" he yelled at me.

He then proceeded to do the same thing to me. I swerved, just as he had done, switched to top gear and blew past him. I stopped quickly, tires skidding. I had won anyway.

I was still grinning when I pulled off the helmet and looked at Krit with a raised eyebrow as he pulled up. He shook his head, laughing.

"I hate it when you girls gang up on me." he said without any real conviction.

"Sure you do." I said, rolling my eyes.

"Alright, alright. I admit it. That's probably the most fun I've had losing." Krit said, smiling brightly at me.

Just then, Syl came running out into the street. She had been watching from on top of the building we had pulled up next to, the building we had decided would be the finish line.

"Go, Ty!" she called to me, "Krit, you owe me more money."

"Aw, come on, Syl. How about I just buy you a beer?" Krit complained.

"Bet's a bet. All the money you owe me I could buy a bar." Syl replied.

Now Krit rolled his eyes. It suddenly occurred to me that I would be really sad to see them go. Now that I had found Zack and all the problems had been straightened out, my mission was complete. Zack would undoubtedly make Krit, Syl and me relocate to new cities now. He would probably argue with Max about staying in Seattle, too. Who knew what would happen concerning Cade. I frowned thinking about this.

"What's wrong, Ty?" Krit asked, noticing my expression.

I shook my head.

"I was just thinking that this is probably the last time we're all going to be together. It's too dangerous to have six Manticore fugitives in the same place." I said, knowing that's exactly what Zack would say next time we saw him.

Krit and Syl both sobered immediately.

"You're right." Syl said sadly, "Knowing Zack, he won't care if we get a chance to socialize."

"He's trying to protect us." I said, feeling the need to defend my big brother.

"I know. But we haven't seen Max in eleven years." Syl insisted.

"And we just met you." Krit added, "And Cade."

Krit's face lit up suddenly. He looked at Syl and she seemed to know what he was thinking. She smiled and nodded.

"What?" I asked.

"Well, if this is the last time we're going to all be together we should at least have a going away party, shouldn't we?" Krit said, his mischievous smile back in place.

"Zack's not gonna like this." I warned, but couldn't help looking forward to the idea.

I was right. When we returned to base and Syl and Krit proposed a night on the town before we all relocated, Zack was furious.

"Have you lost your minds?!" he demanded, "There's six of us here and Manticore knows that. But instead of splitting up and staying free, you want to party!"

"Come on, Zack. What's one night?" Max insisted, immediately agreeing with us.

"One night is plenty of time for Manticore to come here and drag us all back." Zack growled.

He had to know he couldn't win this. Not with all of us against him.

"Zack," Cade said quietly, "I've never had the chance to have some real fun. And sadly, I don't think you have either."

Even Cade was agreeing with us. There was no way Zack could win this argument.

But he was going to try.

Zack crossed his arms across his chest and gave us all his most disapproving glare.

"I will not allow this."

"What're you gonna do? Take us all on?" Max taunted.

"If I have to." Zack replied firmly.

I'm not sure if he noticed us all slowly moving to circle him. We had decided before even approaching Zack that we would make him come with us even if we had to use force.

Max rolled her eyes at Zack.

"You're not that good, Zack. Come on, I already kicked your ass once." she said, providing our distraction.

"This is different." 

Cade held up a pair of handcuffs and looked questioningly at Krit. He nodded, his grin getting even wider. Cade pounced, attacking Zack from behind. I could see Zack's eyes widen as he realized what we were doing. He spun around to meet Cade, but not before she grabbed his arms and slapped the handcuffs on his wrists.

"Now you have to come." Syl said smugly.

Zack used some colorful expletives that I don't care to repeat. 

"Do we have to gag you?" Cade threatened.

Zack glared at her.

"What about Lydecker? Are we going to leave him here to contact Manticore?" Zack demanded.

That was a good point.

"If he was going to contact Manticore, don't you think he would have done it by now?" Max returned.

"They still want me dead at Manticore, Zack." Lydecker said.

"Was anyone talking to you?" Krit snapped.

"Can't we just lock him in a room or something?" Syl asked, rolling her eyes.

"I think I have a solution." Logan spoke up from behind Max.

We all looked at him questioningly. Logan whipped out a phone and quickly dialed a number.

"Hey, Bling? I have a job for you." he said into the phone.

So we left Lydecker to be guarded by Bling. It was a temporary solution and we all knew it. We would have to come to a permanent one soon, but none of us wanted to think about that now. All we wanted to think about was having fun for one night.

So we dragged Zack outside and pushed him into the van, ignoring his protests and threats.

"You can't keep me in this van." Zack growled.

"Sure we can." Cade said, and promptly sat in his lap.

"Cade, if you do not get off me, I will..." Zack began.

"You will what?" she replied.

"Okay, now I know the boy's wack." Krit joked.

"Yeah, well, another crack like that and you'll be sleeping on the couch." Cade threatened Zack.

Krit turned to Syl in all seriousness.

"Twenty bucks."

Syl grudgingly paid up.

"I should never have left you alone with Krit and Syl." Zack muttered.

"Oh, blame us." Syl retorted.

"We're a bad influence." Max agreed, grinning back at us in the rear-view mirror.

She was driving us to some place called Crash.

"I told you he was a fun guy." Logan said from the passenger's seat.

"And I told you just wait until he gets his drink on, right Zack?" Max said.

Zack grunted and resolved himself to just look at us all with his unhappy, disapproving look. I was beginning to think that Zack must have a patent on all disapproving looks.

Zack whined, threatened, and complained the entire rest of the way there. Probably the best insult surprisingly came from Cade.

"What are you gonna cry, Zack?" 

I kind of did feel sorry for Zack, but then quickly got over it. We pulled into The Crash's parking lot, Max shut off the van engine, and we all moved to pile out.

"Has anyone ever told you you make a good chair?" Cade called to Zack as she got out.

He made no response.

"Hey, that's an idea." Krit said as he exited the van, "Zack chair. Hmmm, I see one in every house this side of...of..."

Krit was cut off by Syl's slap to his head.

"Hurry up!"

"Alright," he continued climbing out, "Geez, girl's are so pushy."

"Hey!" every female in or around the van exclaimed.

Zack remained seated in the van.

"Zack, get out right now!" I shouted.

"No." he said firmly.

Cade moved in and whispered something in his ear. He grudgingly removed himself from the vehicle.

"He is whipped!" Krit said to Logan in an amused tone.

"Bad." Logan agreed.

"Logan!" Max called, hands on her hips.

"Coming!" he replied, hurrying after her.

We got a lot of weird looks when people saw the handcuffs on Zack, but none of us cared to explain.

"Zack, would you just stop." Cade sighed, "Promise you'll be a good boy."

"No."

"I'll take your handcuffs off if you promise." she offered.

"Fine." Zack grunted.

"Nope. Not good enough. I want to hear the words." Cade pressed.

Zack gave her a look that could have made a normal person burst into flames.

"I will be a good boy." he said through clenched teeth, each word a new sentence.

"Was that so hard?" Cade asked, as she took the handcuffs off.

Krit made a coughing noise that sounded surprising like the word "whipped" as we made our way into the bar.

Zack didn't reply. He looked around him at the dimly lit club. There was a pool table in one corner, a foosball table in another, a guy was doing bike tricks on the bar, and music was blaring from an unknown source.

"Sketchy!" Max called.

The guy doing bike tricks looked up and promptly fell off the bar. Max grinned.

"Oops." she said.

The woman from Jampony that had given me Logan's address hurried over when she saw Max.

"Guys, this is my home-girl, Original Cindy." Max said, "Original, these are my peeps. Zack, you know. This is Krit, Syl, Ty, and Cade."

Original Cindy smiled.

"Original Cindy pleased to meet you. Well, most of you." she said, shooting a look at Zack.

Max smiled and she, Original Cindy, and Logan walked up to the bar where the guy she had called Sketchy was just now disentangling himself from his bike.

"I'll get us some drinks." Syl offered, walking up to the bar after them, "Grab us a table or something."

Krit nodded and went to find an empty table. I followed. I smiled slightly as I overheard Zack and Cade's conversation.

"Zack, I want to learn things. Things that Manticore would never teach us. And right now, I want to learn how to dance." she said.

"Krit could show you..." Zack began.

"No. I want you to show me." she insisted, pulling him towards the spot that was cleared for dancing.

"But..." Zack protested.

"Don't tell me you don't know how."

Zack didn't answer and I could just picture him looking down at the floor and avoiding her eyes.

"Well, I guess we'll have to learn together." Cade said.

As much fun as I thought it would be to watch Zack try to learn how to dance, I forced myself not to. Zack was already mad enough at us, I didn't need to make him more angry.

Krit slid into a booth along the wall and I sat across from him. Syl came back with a pitcher of beer. 

"Hey, you know what? I think I'm gonna go make a few bucks at the pool table." she said and quickly abandoned us.

"You know," Krit said, looking after her, "I think my sister has decided to set us up."

I looked after Syl, too. I was too embarrassed to look at Krit. I found myself not minding being set up.

"So you and her aren't..." I said.

"No way. I still think she has a crush on Zane." he said that last part loud enough for Syl to hear. She glared at him from across the bar, "Ever since she found him when he was relocating from L.A. Yep, she's hopelessly infatuated."

"I think she's going to hurt you."

I could feel Krit looking at me. I didn't know what to say so I poured myself a glass of beer and took a swallow. I don't normally drink beer and the taste made me choke.

"You okay?" Krit asked, leaning closer to me, concern and amusement on his face.

"You're fine. I mean, I'm fine." I stumbled, hoping he hadn't caught my mistake.

The smile didn't leave Krit's face.

I distracted myself by looking over at Zack and Cade. They had left the dance-floor and were now sitting down at the bar, some distance from Max and Logan.

"So...uh...how about that Pulse, huh?" Krit said.

"What?" I asked, turning to stare at him.

"I was joking."

"Oh." I said, looking down at the table now.

"Is the table interesting?" he asked.

"Yep. Very." I said, "If you look at this little swirl here it looks like a whale."

"That's not a whale, that's a humvee." Krit replied.

"It's not a humvee. It's got a tail. What kind of humvee has a tail?" 

"It's a humvee!"

"There is no way it could..." 

I couldn't talk any more because Krit placed a quick kiss on my lips.

"That's a cheap way to win an argument." I managed.

"But it worked."

"Uh huh. It's a nice humvee."

***

I looked skeptically at the man known as Sketchy. What kind of person names their kid Sketchy?

"So. What's your name?" he asked, leaning across the bar towards me.

"I forgot." I replied stiffly.

He didn't seem to recognize that as a rebuke.

"So, you like my bike tricks?" he asked, leaning even closer to me.

"Sure. I especially liked the one where you fell off the bar in a heap." I said, scooting closer to Zack, hoping he would take the hint.

Sketchy laughed like he thought I was making a joke.

"Actually, I didn't mean to do that." he explained.

I rolled my eyes. How stupid did he think I was? Zack leaned in front of me and grabbed the collar of Sketchy's shirt. He pulled Sketchy onto the bar slightly so that he was right in his face.

"I suggest you back off." he growled.

"Sure, Sam. Whatever you say, man." he agreed quickly and Zack released him.

I heard his feet hit the ground and assumed Zack must have pulled him a good two inches off of it.

"Way to score with the hot chick, man." Sketchy said.

Zack bared his teeth at him and Sketchy moved backwards at a rapid pace. I smiled, amused at the situation, and leaned my head against Zack's shoulder.

"Not overprotective at all, are we?" I said, knowing that Zack and overprotective were almost synonyms.

"Of course." Zack said, cocking his head to rest his cheek on top of my hair.

There was a bit of a high-pitched whine that made us both jump and whirl around. 

"Sorry about that." the guy who was obviously in charge of the music said before playing another song.

Zack rolled his eyes and actually laughed when he saw Krit trying to get Ty to dance. I personally didn't think he had anything to laugh about. We had been absolutely hopeless when we had tried to dance and had given up quickly. I would get him to learn, but maybe not tonight.

I glanced down the bar and saw Max talking animatedly to Syl, Logan smiling as he listened. I heard something along the lines of "I heard Krit say something about Zane." from Max, but didn't care to listen in any further.

This was freedom. It had to be. I had never been happier before in my life. So what if Manticore found a way to get back together and rebuild? So what if they came after me? I had Zack. So whatever the future had planned for me...bring it on.

***

Zack tried to break it to us later that night. He told Syl to head to Las Vegas, Krit to go to Detroit, me to head for Omaha. I watched as Krit and Syl solemnly promised to do as he said and to not contact each other. Zack couldn't see that they both had their fingers crossed behind their backs.

"Ty, you'll head for Omaha?" he asked, turning to me after glancing suspiciously at Krit and Syl.

"I'll head for Omaha." I nodded.

I thought to myself that I never said I would actually get there. Krit, Syl and I made arrangements to seemingly ride together, dropping off me and Syl and then letting Krit continue to Detroit. Secretly, we planned to head to Montana once we were sure that Zack wouldn't suspect.

Max and Logan started looking at each other with dreamy gazes and left halfway through the night. Max apologized to us profusely and said heart-felt goodbyes. She knew Zack and knew that he wouldn't let us stick around tomorrow. 

I wasn't the only one who was surprised by Logan's actually friendly goodbye to Zack. I guessed that since Zack was no longer in love with Max, Logan felt a little kinder towards him. But that didn't meant they liked each other. And it didn't mean that Zack was happy to let Max stay in Seattle. But Zack knew better than to try and talk her out of it.

Syl was happy about the money she had made hustling people at the pool table. Happy enough to put up with Sketchy hitting on her. But she would end up losing a portion of what she made to Krit the next day when Zack and Cade left together on Zack's motorcycle after seeing us off.

And Krit. Krit enjoyed embarrassing me for a good majority of the night. I don't think I'd ever blushed before, but I seemed to be doing a lot of it then. Before the night was over I managed to find enough courage to wrap my arms around his neck and kiss him. Funny how leading a mission to Manticore seemed like nothing when I was trying to find the courage to kiss Krit.

I trusted Cade now. For the most part, anyway. She had my brother's heart and for that I would always be a little mistrusting. If she ever broke his heart, I would hunt her down and kill her myself. I hoped she knew that. But as long as Zack was happy, then I was happy. She brought out a part of Zack that we had never gotten to know before. The part that didn't mind being at a party and that could smile and laugh without being afraid that he was giving away his emotions which was a weakness. Zack would never be the most forthcoming guy with his feelings, but at least now we could all tell that he was happy.

I could safely tell myself, mission complete.

End

----------------------------------------------------------------

I can't believe it's over! Well, what do you think guys? Stupid, good, boring, ridiculous? I really enjoyed writing this fic. Who am I kidding? It was a blast! Let me know what you thought of it.

Ty


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